How to draw the flag of Mexico

The flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolour of green, white and red, with the national coat of arms at the centre of the white band. Below is how to construct it step by step, with the measurements written as fractions so they work at any size — on paper, on a whiteboard or in an art program. If you would rather test yourself first, you can draw it from memory and get scored.

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Step by step

  1. Start with a rectangle in the proportions 4:3. If you are working on paper, 18 cm wide by 10 cm tall is a convenient size — every measurement below is given as a fraction, so any size works as long as the shape is right.
  2. Divide the width into three equal vertical bands, each a third of the width. From the hoist (left) to the fly, colour them dark teal, white and red.
  3. Draw a brown circle with a radius of 22% of the height (a diameter of 44%), centred in the middle of the flag.
  4. Finally, the emblem. This flag carries a device too detailed to reproduce faithfully by hand — even official renderings simplify it at small sizes. Place it correctly and at the right size, and do not worry about its interior.

The colours

These are the shades used in the reference drawing. Official specifications are usually given in Pantone; the hex values below are the closest common screen equivalents.

The mistakes people make

One more thing worth knowing: Mexico belongs to the vertical tricolours. Ireland and Italy trip up almost everyone: orange versus red on the fly side. If you are drawing several flags, do the ones in this group back to back — the differences stick far better that way.

Test yourself

Reading how a flag is built and being able to reproduce it from memory are different skills, and the gap between them is bigger than most people expect. Draw the flag of Mexico from memory and the game will score how close you got, or try today's flag if you want to be surprised.

Other flags to draw