Information on Mexican Fiesta Flags
The colorful cutout flags commonly seen at Mexican fiestas and religious celebrations are part of a folk art tradition called "papel picado," or perforated paper. It's a tradition that dates back to the ancient Aztecs.
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Origin
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The Aztecs made ceremonial flags out of a bark-mulch paper called "amatl." The flags were often adorned with cutout images of Aztec deities.
Spanish Influence
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The Spanish brought their own paper-cutting tradition that had originally come from China. They added more modern techniques to the indigenous papel picado tradition and oriented it toward Christian celebrations.
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Manufacture
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Papel picado is made by placing sheets of colored tissue paper over a template and carving out the design with awls, chisels or fine knife blades.
Design and Color
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According to a MexConnect.com article by Dale Hoyt Palfrey, an American writer living in Mexico, design patterns include flowers, foliage, birds, angels, crosses, skeletons and historic figures. Flags depicting the Virgin Mary are usually sky blue or pink, those used on patron saint days are yellow or white, and those used for Day of the Dead are often vibrant pink, orange and purple.
Hub
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San Salvador Huixcolotla in the state of Puebla is a center for the art, and in 1998 the state government declared the town a cultural patrimony site, calling it the "cradle" of papel picado, according to the magazine Mexico Desconocido.
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