Italy vs Mexico
Both are vertical green-white-red tricolors. Italy is a plain 2:3 tricolor. Mexico is longer at 4:7 and places the national coat of arms in the white band: a golden eagle on a cactus eating a rattlesnake. At a distance, look for the eagle; up close, Mexico's green and red run darker than Italy's.
- Proportion
- 2:3
- Adopted
- 1946
Colors
- Green #009246
- White #FFFFFF
- Red #CE2B37
- Proportion
- 4:7
- Adopted
- 1968
Colors
- Green #006847
- White #FFFFFF
- Red #CE1126
Look foron Italy
Look foron Mexico
- No coat of arms on the national flagCoat of arms centered on the white band
- 2:3 ratio, three equal vertical bands4:7 ratio, longer than Italy's 2:3
- Republic tricolor from June 18, 1946; first Italian tricolor 1797 (Cispadane Republic)Current eagle design by Francisco Eppens Helguera, adopted September 16, 1968
Which flag is Italy?
Two Tricolors, One Eagle
The Italian tricolore grew from French revolutionary vertical bands. The Cispadane Republic used green, white, and red in 1797. After the House of Savoy, the Italian Republic adopted the plain tricolor on June 18, 1946. Green, white, and red read as hope, faith, and charity, or as plains, Alps, and the wars of independence.
Mexico's tricolor dates to 1821 and the Flag of the Three Guarantees after independence from Spain. The arms come from the founding story of Tenochtitlan: an eagle on a prickly pear cactus devouring a snake. Francisco Eppens Helguera's current drawing was adopted September 16, 1968. Legal proportion is 4:7.
People often treat Mexico as Italy plus an emblem. The arms are the reliable tell. Mexico's statute green and red are also darker, and the 4:7 rectangle is longer than Italy's 2:3, so a stretched 'Italy' on a Mexican pole is still missing the eagle.
Telling them apart
- Italy: empty white band. Mexico: eagle, cactus, and snake filling about half the white band's width.
- Italy 2:3, Mexico 4:7. Uniform flagpoles at sports events often hide the ratio; the arms still show.
- Hungary uses the same three colors in horizontal stripes. Ireland and Côte d'Ivoire use green, white, and orange, not red.
Questions
Can Mexico fly the tricolor without the eagle?
The national flag includes the coat of arms. A plain green-white-red vertical without arms is not the Mexican national flag and will read as Italy.
When did Italy drop the Savoy shield?
The republic dropped the Savoy arms in 1946. The national flag has been the plain tricolor since June 18, 1946.
More lookalikes
Chad vs Romania
Chad has the darker, deeper indigo blue; Romania uses brighter royal cobalt.
Monaco vs Indonesia
Monaco is miniature and squarish (4:5); Indonesia is island-wide (longer 2:3 rectangle).
Australia vs New Zealand
New Zealand has No Commonwealth Star and uses red stars; Australia uses all-white seven-pointed stars.
Ireland vs Ivory Coast
Ireland starts with Green on the left; Ivory Coast starts with Orange on the left.