Last modified: 2004-07-31 by juan manuel gabino villascán
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Nahuatl speaker use a symbolic (non-phonetic) "alphabet".
The glyph in question was used to represent
the city on written document but in the same way then writing
down: "L-O-N-D-O-N".
Marc Pasquin, December 22, 2002.
Thank you Mr. Pasquin for clarifying this very important point.
In other words, such glyphs used on pantlith, which were made of "amate"
(from the nahuatl word "amatl", a tree ficus grabata of whose bark
Mesoamerican peoples made a sort of yellowish paper named after it),
should be understood something like "texts on flags". However, because such
"pantlitl" were put at the entrance of the towns or cities, they could be
also "signs" like those placed on roads.
For example:
By the way, because of the material (amate) the flags (pantlitl) were built, there is not physical or existent evidence of them. The main, and may be the only, sources about the matter are the pre-Hispanic and colonial chronicles and codex.
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, December 25, 2002.
Mexico-Tenochtitlan was administrativelly divided into 20 calpullis,
four of them were the most important ones and the political centers.
Each had its own ensign, dressing, and organization.
The four main calpullis weres: Cuepopan, Moyotla, Soquiapan, and Atzacualco.
Out of these 20 calpullis, there is just pictogrphic testimony of the four
main calpullis, accoding the Mendocine Codex
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, May 1, 2002
Cuepopan was located in the Northeast of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. It was led by
the Tlacochcálcatl, Chief of the House of Darts, for it was the
place were the arsenla was kept.
The Cuepopan ensign consisted of three white flag, aztapamitl joined
by three quetzal plumes, which belonged to the Tlacochcálcath.
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, May 1, 2002
Moyotla was located to the Southweast of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. It is represented
by a building adorned with tecomitl, called Tecocyahualco, for its
chief was the Tecocyahuácatl.
Moyotla is represented by a flag with horizontal-colored stripes, above a
brown "canton" with nine circle within and some other in its borders, the hoist
is top with a Quetzal-plume that belonged to the Tecocyahuácatl.
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, May 1, 2002
Zoquiapan is in the Souteast of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. It had the building
called Hutznáhuac that shows the sacrificing symbols. It's leader is the
Huitznáhuatl.
The Zoquipan flag is with red-and-white striped broken to contain two Quetzal
adorns. The hoisted is crested by a Quetzal plume that in turn is the
Huitznáhuatl's ensign.
Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, May 1, 2002
The flag of Atzacoalco was a kind of big umbrella made
of feathers, in gold, carried by the army general.
Cuepopan’s standard was composed by three white flags,
atzapamitl, bond together and with Quetzal feathers
that belonged to the Tlacohcalcatl. The others are
the standards of Moyotla and Zoquiapan.
Jorge Candeias, 27 Oct 1997, translating from
La
Bandera Mexicana website (No longer in service).
Each squadron of the Mexica army had a leader, called
tepuchtlato. The warriers in each calpulli
elected their leader, and to be differentiated in battle,
the leader carried on his back the flag of its
calpulli; to be further dirrerentiated, the
ichcahuipilli covered themselves in feathers of
different colour, besides the flag or pantli, so
that if the ones in one squadron carried white and red
feathers, the ones in other squadrons had them in blue
and yellow or in other combinations. The leaders of the
mexica Army had their special standard or flag with more
or less charges according to their rank.
Jorge Candeias, 27 Oct 1997, translating from
La
Bandera Mexicana website (No longer in service).
The people of Hernan Cortés, after the Sad Night,
already retrieving towards Tlaxcala, arrived at July 7,
1520 to the plain between Otumba and Ajapuxco. When
they arrived, faced about 200 000 Aztec Warriors.
The battle was hard, and at about noon both the Spaniards
and their Tlaxcaltec allies, began to leave Cortés.
But he knew through Malinche many Aztec ways and charged on
the leader of the aztec army, pushing him with the horse,
making him fall to the ground. When he did so, Juan de
Salamanca, one of the captains of Cortés steped
down from his horse and took the lábaro.
The warriers, seing their leader in the ground and their
flag taken, considered the battle lost and started to
retreat.
Jorge Candeias, 27 Oct 1997, translating from
La
Bandera Mexicana website (No longer in service).