Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office on Tuesday, has revealed the official emblem of her administration: an image of a young woman with Indigenous features and wearing Indigenous clothing, carrying Mexico’s flag.

“A young Mexican woman will be the emblem of Mexico’s government,” Sheinbaum wrote Monday in a post on her social media channels. 

Una joven mexicana será el emblema del Gobierno de México. Aquí les comparto la imagen. pic.twitter.com/KTph2sWkG3

— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) October 1, 2024

President Sheinbaum revealed the new presidential logo on her account on the social media platform X on Monday evening.

According to Mexico’s Graphic Identity Manual 2024–2030, a document that provides visual guidelines for the consistent application of the official logo throughout government offices, the young woman in the emblem is looking to the left, “symbolizing the people’s struggle to achieve justice and freedom.”

The woman’s hair, blowing in the wind, evokes the country’s “firm progress toward a future of well-being and prosperity,” the manual also said. 

The document, which will be shared with all federal public entities, explains that the young woman’s features recognize women of Indigenous heritage, expressing what the document says is Sheinbaum’s respect and admiration for Mexico’s Indigenous peoples.

Sheinbaum’s emblem differs from the emblem of her predecessor, former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in that it features only one person: a woman. 

López Obrador’s emblem featured illustrations of José Maria Morelos y Pavón, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Benito Juárez, Francisco I. Madero and Lázaro Cárdenas — all male Mexican historical figures that represent the stages in Mexico’s history that López Obrador refers to as “the three great transformations of Mexico:” the War of Independence, the Reform War, and the Mexican Revolution.

López Obrador consistently dubbed his administration as Mexico’s “fourth transformation,” commonly known as the “4T.” Sheinbaum has promised to continue López Obrador’s political movement.

What do Mexicans think about the emblem?

Reactions to Sheinbaum’s emblem have been varied, with most pointing out that the young woman’s head covers the flag’s national coat of arms. 

“What a terrible design, and what a lack of respect for the flag by covering the characteristic symbol with the head of that woman,” one user responded to Sheinbaum’s post, while another pointed out that the covered flag “could be from any country.”

“The Mexican flag is to be shown off, not hidden,” someone else said. 

Others, however, supported the president’s choice with emojis representing applause and hearts. 

“Congratulations Madam President. This is very beautiful and represents the reality of our country,” one user wrote.

Another wrote, “Great! Just as you broke the glass ceiling, break the patriarchal yoke, and elevate women in Mexico!”

After having 65 male presidents since Mexico’s independence from Spain over 200 years ago, Sheinbaum is Mexico’s first-ever female president.

With reports from El Financiero and Infobae