The current debate over the return of the ensign of the New Orleans Greys to the State of Texas has renewed interest in the four surviving standards of the Mexican Army captured at the battle of San Jacinto.

Sam Houston, in his report to the Texian Government noted that "four stands of colors" had been captured in the eighteen minute battle ( Houston to David G. Burnet, April 21, 1836 ). These four flags remarkably still exist and are still in Texas. The colours of the Permanente Battalions Guerrero and Matamoros and that of the Activo Toluca are still in possession of the State of Texas. A fourth flag, identified as a Mexican cavalry standard, is in the possession of the Dallas Historical Society. At least three of these flags were set out as display during the transfer of governments between the Republic of Texas and the United States on February 19, 1946.

The three infantry "banderas" are all made of silk. The Toluca colours are 68" x 52"; the Matamoros 53.5 - 56.5" x 61 - 66" and the Guerrero 52 - 60.5 x 55.5 - 58" (these sizes vary because they are battle worn and torn and do not have straight edges TDH). Each is a variant of the Mexican National Standard or "pabellon nacional" which is a green-white-red tri-colour. The Mexican National Symbol, a rampant eagle with a snake in its beak standing on a prickly pear cactus growing from a rock or rocks, is also present but not identical on any of the three flags.

Non-Uniform Flags

Other than the colour and placement of the bars, the flags are not uniform in size, shape, wording or in the depiction of the national symbol. The Matamoros and Toluca flags have no prickly pear cactus or rock in the "escudo de armas".

The Toluca flag has the legend "BATALLON, ACTIVA DE, TOLUCA" in three lines painted under the eagle and snake in black and in capital letters, the eagle is also looking to it's right.

The Matamoros flag has the eagle looking to it's left, while the legend "Batallon" is placed above the eagle and snake and "Matamoros", "Permanente" in two lines is painted under the eagle and snake in an italic style of writing.

The Guerrero flag has the eagle facing left astride a prickly cactus growing from two rocks with three thin lines of blue paint on either side to represent water, under this are a oak and laurel branch tied together by a ribbon in the form of a bow, these branches go on either side of the central design of the eagle/snake/cactus/rocks up to just below the outstretched wings, although the right wing is not fully outstretched, to form a complete circle around this central design the top half is in the form of ribbon with swallow tailed ends, the end of each swallow tail is a small tassel, only the outer edge of the ribbon design is coloured, it looks gold, the field of the ribbon is white, it is really the central white stripe of the flag, inscribed on the white central field of the ribbon is the legend "Pe. BATALLON Guerrero" in this style of writing, although the "e" in the "Pe." is in the top half rather than the bottom, in battalion the "A"s do not have straight central lines but they are in the shape of a "V", this legend would appear to be in black. (I thought that these descriptions would suffice rather than for me to sit down and draw each one, hope you can understand what I'm trying to describe. The colours for the various main themes are eagle; gold or brown, / snake; green and yellow (yellow on the topside), or plain green, / cactus; green usually with small red buds but not always, / rocks; brown or black. TDH )

The fourth flag measures 44.5" x 39.5", it is also a tri-colour of the national pattern with the eagle/snake in the white central bar. Again, the eagle is different in style than the previous other three flags, the most distinctive difference of this flag is that it has a swallow tail. The horizontal "V" cut from the two outer corners comes all the way through the red bar and into the centre of the middle white bar for one third of it's width, the eagle/snake/cactus/rock (on either side of the rock there are five small light blue lines to represent water) this symbol is placed closer to the green bar and is therefore off centre. It carries no inscription as to identify what unit it may have belonged, in 1834-35 Mexican Infantry Battalions were re-named in honour of heroes from the War of Independence from Spain, Cavalry Regiments were named in honour of battles from that War.

Permanente Battalion

The Permanente Battalion Matamoros was formed from the 8th and 9th Infantry Battalions in the mid-1830's. The battalion was in the Vanguard ofthe Mexican Army of Operations when it crossed the Rio Bravo to crush the revolt in Texas, it subsequently was among the four infantry units who commenced the siege of the Alamo on February 23, 1836. During the March 6th battle, the fusilier companies of the battalion were part of the Mexican assault column commanded by Colonel Jose Maria Romero, he was also the battalion's commander.

The Activo Battalion Toluca was part of the re-enforcement battalions Santa Anna received on March 3, 1836, in the assault on the Alamo three days later, the Toluca fusilier and cazadore companies were the lead units in Colonel Francisco Duque's column attacking the centre of the north wall. The battalion suffered the highest casualties in the Alamo assault, Duque, who was wounded in the assault was also the battalion's commander. It is possible that both the Matamoros and Toluca flags were seen flying in the Alamo battle.

In contrast the Permanente Battalion Guerrero, which had been forrned from the old 5th Infantry Battalion, arrived in San Antonio with General Antonio Gaona following the Alamo battle. All three battalions subsequently continued the ca npaign into East Texas and to the Brazos River, when Santa Anna split off from the main army in pursuit of the Texian Government, these three battalions were included in the thousand man force that he took with him. Through this, these battalions were present at the defeat and rout of Santa Anna's division at the battle of San Jacinto, the Permanente Matamoros was in the centre of the Mexican defences in that brief but important battle.

Since the cavalry colour carries no inscription, one can only speculate as to which regiment it belonged to, present at the battle of San Jacinto were elements of the Tampico and Guanajuato cavalry units. It is possible that one of these units may well have carried this flag, although it could also have been used by Santa Anna'a own mounted escort unit.

The 1828 Militia Law adopted by the Legislature of the State of Coahuila and Texas prescribed that every militia battalion was to have a similar tri-colour flag with a "stamped" Eagle "in the attitude of flying and around it, in letters of gold, the words "Religion, Independencia, Union". In the upper part of the central white stripe shall be placed the name of the State, then under the eagle "Federacion Mexicana", and below this the name of the town and the number of the battalion."

(Many thanks Kevin, these snippets of data are very useful. TDH)

Related Article

View of a Mexican Army Division on Parade: Goliad Texas 1836

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