Buy State Flags from 
Allstate FlagsBuy US flags 
from Five Star Flags
This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website

Nuevo León, Mexico

Estado Libre y Soberano de Nuevo León

Last modified: 2005-03-05 by juan manuel gabino villascán
Keywords: mexico | nuevo león | coat of arms | lion | unofficial | spain |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors



Note: Nuevo León has no official flag, but one in white charged with the coat of arms is broadly used:

Nuevo León  unofficial white flag 4:7[Non-official proportions]
[Defacto flag]
[One or more variants under the same basic design]
by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, November 12, 2004.
Coat of arms from: Banco de México
See: Coat of arms on white background: unofficial flags


See also: Other sites:

Presentation of Nuevo León

  • Official name: Estado Libre y Soberano de Nuevo León / Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León
  • Short-form names: Estado de Nuevo León / State of Nuevo León; Nuevo León.
  • Location: Nuevo León is is a landlocked stated located in the North-East of Mexico. It neighbors: Coahuila de Zaragoza (W), Tamaulipas (E), San Luis Potosí (S), Zacatecas (SW); and the United States of America (N).
  • Area: 64,555 km2
  • Municipalities: 51
  • Population: 1'353,610 inhabitants
  • Capital: Monterrey (Pop.: 123,899)
  • Statehood: May 7, 1824
  • Arms adopted: Unknown date.

INEGI and SEP
Reported by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, November 12, 2004.


Coat of arms

[Nuevo León coat of arms

by Banco de México
Posted by: Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, November 12, 2004.

The coat of arms consists of a "french", quartered shield. The first quarter shows a landscape with green mountains, red sky, yellow sun and what seems to be a river (I really cannot blazon this! :-) . The second quarter is argent, a lion rampant marron (suposedly the arms of León, Spain — but the lion should be purple). The third shows what seems to be a church of some sort, in black and white depiction. The fourth shows a black factory with five factory exhautors smoking white into a red background. Over all, and eschuteon argent, tressured sable, over all a bend of the same. Bordure azure, charged in point with the lettering "ESTADO DE NUEVO LEÓN" in upper case letters sable, being the word "DE" slightly smaller, in sinister and dexter with alternating arrow bows and arrow bundles, and in chief six five pointed stars vert. Uncrowned and unmanteled helm argent.
António Martins, June 22, 1999


The coat of arms is featured by:

  1. It is a river, the Santa Catarina. The Mountain is Saddlehill Mountain, symbol of the capital city, Monterrey. The red sky is meant to symbol dawn (The Mountain is East). You can't see an Indian firng arrows at the sun, but he's there alright.

  2. It is the lion of Leon. Even your site shows it red.

  3. It's the old San Francisco Monastery, long gone. Symbolizes the early stages of the Spanish settlement.

  4. The smokestacks are from the oldest steel mill in Latin AMerica, the Fundidora. It symbolizes the indutrial power of the State. You can see these smokestacks on the Cart Serial Opening race next week. The racetrabck runs in the old Steel Mill grounds, now a park.

  5. Top (Chief): They're not stars, but bees, that symbolize the hard working ethic.

Miguel Arredondo, February 27, 2001.


Unofficial Nuevo León people's flag

Unofficial Nuevo León people's flag 3:5[Non-official proportions]
by Antonio Peres Solís, May 27, 2004.

This is a flag that we recognize as ours. It was designed about 1989. Many of our citizens who live in the United States of America fly it proudly, so do we.
Antonio Peres Solís, May 26, 2004.


On te flag the text reads "Semper Ascendens", is the Latin for "[Going] always upwards".
It shows a red lion (canting, as "Nuevo León" means "New Lyon" -- the old one being León City, Spain --, rampant facing the hoist, with a golden "old" crown on his head. Set in black with a cursive hand on a semi-circular line bellow the lion the lettering "Semper Ascendens". At the bottom of the flag three very narrow horizontal stripes of green, white and red -- standing certainly for Hungary (q.v.). The image above shows a golden fring on all three free edges.
António Martins-Tuválkin, May 26, 2004.


In Spanish the text on the flag means "Siembre hacia arriba" o "Siempre ascendiendo". This is (the Latin one) the official state motto. It is included in the State arms.

The stripes do not stand for for Hungary at all. The colors resemble those of the Mexican National Flag.

On the other hand, during many travels to Monterrey (do not confuse with Monterey -with one "r"- in California, USA), capital city of the State of Nuevo León, I have ever seen such a flag. May be this is must common in bordering regions or even only in the USA.

With certain officiality the white cloth charged with the State's coat of arms is widely used. In fact, at the lecture hall of the governor's headquarters both flags the National and what should be names as the State's flag are hoisted. Please contact the official site of the Nuevo León's government. In the section "Sala de Prensa" (Press Hall) / "Noticial" (news) you will find many photos showing both flags.
Towards the last 2004 "Olimpiadas Nacionales", Nuevo León team was registered with a white standard with the whole arms. Thus, I may thing that the offcial or at least almost offcial flag is that in white with the arms.

Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, May 28, 2004.


The text reads "Semper ascendens", always ascending.

A similar motto, "Ubi non ascendam?" ("Where will I not climb?") was used by Superintendant Fouquet, who has a squirrel on a coat of arms. Fouquet's ascension ended on 5 September 1661, when Fouquet was arrested in Nantes by d'Artagnan, upon Louis XIV's special request. Two weeks before, Fouquet humiliated Louis XIV by giving in his castle of Vaux the so-called "imprudent festival", during which he shown the royal court that he was much richer than the king.
After a rigged trial, Fouquet was sentenced to life imprisonment and jailed in the fortress of Pignerol (today, Pinerolo, in Italy) until his death in 1680.
Fouquet's cour, including the architect Le Vau, the decorator Le Brun and the landscape architect Le Notre, was immediatly transfered to Versailles. All of Fouquet's table companions change sides, the two main exceptions being the dreadful madame de Sevigne, who kept a very low esteem for Louis XIV and the Versailles court, and the poet Jean de la Fontaine, who published an "Elegie aux Nymphes de Vaux" not really appreciated by the king.
Therefore, Versailles can be considered as the result of both a hold-up and a petty revenge. I shall try to explain the history of the city in more detail, since there is nearly nothing on fr-78-ve.html.

Ivan Sache, May 26, 2004.