NEW MEXICO, FLAG OF

U.S. state flag consisting of a yellow field (background) with a Zia Indian sun in red as its central symbol. The original state flag of New Mexico, designed by the historian Ralph E. Twitchell and adopted in 1915, was typical of American vexillography (flag design). On a blue background it included the name of the state, its order of admission to the Union (47), the state seal, and a U.S. flag. In contrast to most American state flags, the current New Mexico flag is starkly simple. The colours are based on the flag of Spain, which had ruled New Mexico until the early 19th century as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The state flag was designed by the archaeologist and physician Harry Mera in a competition sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The flag was officially adopted in March 1925. Today the Zia sun is widely recognized as a state symbol, and the architectural design of the capitol building in Santa Fe was influenced by its shape. Whitney Smith History New Mexico's first inhabitants were various groups of Indians who farmed and hunted on the land for at least 10,000 years before white explorers appeared. The more peaceful agriculturists included the later groups, whose pueblo ruins dot the state. These groups had well-developed irrigation systems by the time the more aggressive and nomadic Navajo and Apache arrived from the north, probably in the 15th century. Spanish and Mexican rule Reports of the fabled seven cities of gold brought the first European explorers into New Mexico in 1540, led by the Spanish adventurer Francisco Vsquez de Coronado. The journey was fruitless, and they returned to Mexico. After several decades of desultory exploration by soldiers and friars, Juan de Oate was given contracts for colonization in 1595 and made the first permanent white settlements during the following years. Santa Fe was established as the permanent capital in 1610. For the next century missionary work predominated, but attempts to eradicate Indian religion and culture brought on an uprising and massacre in 1680 that cleared out the Europeans for a time. By 1700, however, the Spanish had reasserted themselves, and for the next century there was considerable settlement. Albuquerque, founded in 1706, was the focal point in the south, and Santa Fe was the centre of the north. Subsistence agriculture in the valley of the Rio Grande and its tributaries was supplemented by the raising of sheep and horses. Trade with the Comanche to the east brought consumer goods (probably from French traders) in exchange for wool, furs, and horses. The Spanish population increased rapidly, possibly to 25,000 by 1800, making New Mexico several times more populous than the colonies of Texas and California. Although there was substantial trade with Chihuahua, Mex., Spanish authorities usually neglected this important frontier province. Although French traders from New Orleans, La., made inroads into the economy of Santa Fe, a greater threat to Spanish New Mexico came from attacks by the Apache and Comanche. Some 100 soldiers garrisoned at Santa Fe were powerless to halt the Indian forays. In 180607 Lieutenant Zebulon Pike led a small detachment of U.S. Army troops into New Mexican territory. After his capture and imprisonment for illegal entry into Mexico, Pike wrote a report about the Mexican southwest that brought American fur trappers and traders into the area. When New Mexico became a part of the Republic of Mexico, founded in 1821, it already had begun to trade with the United States over the Santa Fe Trail, and this trade led to still another allegiance 25 years later.