A few weeks ago, I went to the Grito de Independencia in Iztapalapa of Mexico City.
At the event, there was a moment where, as you can see in the photo below, there were people saluting the Mexican flag.
Despite living here for over 5 years, I'll admit that I've never seen Mexicans salute the flag before until that day.
Never been to any event where people were doing that basically.
On this occasion, some woman in some decorative clothing went on stage.
They had the Mexican flag obviously.
And everyone in the crowd (including those on stage), put their hand on their chest.
However, I was confused at first to be honest.
Back home, we obviously put our hand on our chest a tiny bit differently.
The Mexican way, as you can see in the photo, seems to include the hand over the breast just like we do in the US but with the palm facing down.
Of course, in the US, we have troops who have a similar hand placement but they put the hand with the palm facing down by the head instead of the chest.
Some Mexicans do more formal salute also just like we do in the US but those are usually those in uniform, members of the armed forces, veterans, the Mexican President, etc.
For civilians, the placement of the hand is obviously different and just slightly different (though very similar for the most part) to how folks in the US do it.
Interesting enough, as we were doing the salute, there was some drunk dude way in the background that was briefly making some noise and didn't take his hat off.
Not a photo of when the incident occurred but of the crowd that night anyhow.
It wasn't much of an incident but obviously you take the hat off as well when doing the salute.
And, while I'm not Mexican, I obviously made sure to copy what other people were doing in how they did the salute in the crowd.
Even though, as I said, I was slightly confused at first as to how they were doing it.
But let's make this quick and simple then to answer.
How exactly do you do the salute to the Mexican flag in Mexico?
How to Properly Salute the Mexican Flag as a Civilian
Keep in mind that I am not Mexican if you haven't figured that out by now.
Simply writing up a quick article on the subject for anyone curious and for those who maybe will be attending some public event like the Grito de Independencia where you'd probably look like an asshole if you didn't salute also.
So, for purposes of this article, I'll be pulling in some info from other articles to give the exact specifics.
According to this article here, these are the specifics:
"Citizens not in uniform salute by placing their right hand over the heart and men with head cover should remove it and hold it to left shoulder, hand over the heart."
Next, we have a more formal source that you can see here that claims this is the official law on the books on how to salute the Mexican flag:
The Text: "ARTÍCULO 14.- El saludo civil a la Bandera Nacional se hará en posición de firme, colocando la mano derecha extendida sobre el pecho, con la palma hacia abajo, a la altura del corazón. Los varones saludarán, además con la cabeza descubierta. El Presidente de la República, como Jefe Supremo de las fuerzas armadas, la saludará militarmente."
"The civil salute to the Mexican Flag will be done in a straight position, putting the right hand extended over the breast, with the palm facing down to where the heart is located. The male people will salute the flag with the head uncovered."
Also, your arm should be completely straight when saluting the Mexican flag.
Finally, the salute itself is called "saludo a la bandera" in Spanish for those curious.
For those who want the Wikipedia article on the "saludo a la bandera," you can check it out here.
It has a tiny bit more information in Spanish about this hand gesture but not too much more.
And, if you want, you can check out some of the videos I included below here on the "saludo a la bandera" in Mexico.
Anything to Add?
Anyway, it's a pretty simple topic.
Doesn't need a 5,000 word essay on it.
But, like I said, I'm not Mexican.
So if there is anything you'd like to add or if any of the information is not entirely correct, let me know in the comments below and I'll adjust the information.
This is all just based on what I could find out online and how I saw the hand gesture that night in Iztapalapa.
Or leave any comment you like.
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Enjoy also the Mexican national anthem below in case you need something inspirational to practice your "saludo a la bandera."
Himno Nacional Mexicano con Letra
Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt
PS: If you plan on applying for Mexican citizenship (which I might someday but who knows where the future will take me), then I'd suggest you nail down perfectly everything said in this article. They might quiz you on it or something. Who knows.