Mexican National Anthem Stamps

This article features the Mexican National Anthem Stamps of 1954. Readers of this blog know that the music topics that appear on stamps often carry significant meaning. Often, these messages are political, either overtly or subtly. Among the more overtly political musical stamps are those that celebrate national anthems. Such stamps are popular across the world as you can see by checking out my articles about the Liberian and Canadian anthems. However, they seem particularly prominent in Latin American countries. For example, check out some of my articles featuring the national anthem stamps of Guatemala, Uruguay, and Chile.

To learn more about national anthems on postage stamps I highly recommend this blog written by Richard Scott Morel, Curator of the British Library’s Philatelic Collections. In it, he writes, “National anthems are a popular way for nations to eulogise their history, traditions and struggles musically since the nineteenth century . . .” 

In this post, I will explore the Mexican stamps commemorating the centennial of the Himno Nacional Mexicano.

Mexico

The area now comprising Mexico was long home to indigenous peoples and powerful empires. Then, famously, came an invasion and conquest by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez and a group of soldiers between 1519 and 1521. Following this War, Mexico was subject to Spanish colonial rule for the next three hundred years.

Following a ten-year revolution, Mexico achieved independence from Spain in 1821. However, this only began a prolonged period of political instability marked by civil war, coups, adn constant rebellion. In the 1840s, Mexico lost most of its northern territory to the United States in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). In the 1860s, led by Napoleon III, the French invaded and controlled the country for more than five years. The nineteenth century came to a close with a military dictatorship in the country under General Porfirio Díaz.

Between 1910 and 1920, there was a second revolution in Mexico, and the establishment of the modern state. Nominally a democracy, the country was under single party rule from 1920 until 2000.

The Himno Nacional

During the turmoil of the 1850s, then President Antonio López de Santa Anna, sought to unite the country with the creation of a national anthem. As a result, a competition was held to find the best patriotic poem celebrating Mexico. The winning poem was by Francisco González Bocanegra. Bocanegra was a poet who wrote love poems and had no desire to enter the competition. His fiance, however, locked him in a room filled with history paintings of Mexican events and refused to let him out until he wrote an entry for the competition. A few hours later, he wrote ten verses that eventually unanimously won the competition.

The Music

The winning lyrics were published on February 3, 1954. A competition for the music for the lyrics followed, actually two competitions as the winning music of the first competition proved to be unsatisfactory. The final composition is by Jaime Nunó, a Spanish born musician who by the 1850s was in Mexico developing a career as a military band leader. Nunó’s composition, “God and Freedom,” was selected as the winner on August 12, 1954. Officially, the song, with lyrics by Bocanegra set to Nunó’s composition became the Himno Nacional Mexicano on September 16, 1854.

The Stamps

A hundred years later, on September 16, 1954, Mexico issued six stamps commemorating the national anthem. Of the six stamps, there are two designs: one for regular mail and one for airmail. Of course, different denominations have different color stamps to differentiate them.

The regular stamps are fairly basic. They show a stack of sheet music with a cover page that says “Himno Nacional Mexicano 1854.” A hand holding a laurel wreath extends, laying it on top of the pieces of paper. To the lower left, there is a sun with rays extending throughout the frame of the stamp and towards the bottom, in the background, looks to be the mountains of Mexico. I have two of the stamps in this trio, the one peso stamp that is pink and gray and the five centavo stamp that is violet and blue.

Airmail Stamps

Then there are three airmail stamps that also share a design, but are in contrasting colors to denote different denominations. The design of these stamps are much more interesting and feature some Mexican iconography. First, on the left a bird is eating a snake. This is a symbol of the origin myth of the founding of Mexico City by the Mexica tribe. According to tradition, the first Mexica were told to travel until they saw an eagle eating a rattlesnake sitting on a prickly pear, then to build a great city on that site.

To the right is the figure of Madre Patria, who is the female personification of the country. She wears a crown of olive leaves. This is a representation of the first line of the first verse of the Mexican national anthem, which appears below: “Cina i oh Patria! Tus Sienes de Oliva.” It translates as “Oh Motherland! may your temples be wreathed with the olive.” Indeed, literally, Madre Patria is the Motherland, and her temples are wear an olive leaf crown. Behind her waves the tri-color flag of Mexico.

Lyrics

The modern, slightly modified, and lyrics for the hymn date to 1943. The official version uses four verses (actually the 1st, 5th, 6th, and 10th). Below is the first verse and chorus:

Finally, take a listen to the Himno Nacional Mexicano.