Depicts the seal of the United Mexican States.

The Seal of the United Mexican States is a modified version of the national coat of arms, with the addition of the full official name of the country Estados Unidos Mexicanos, in a semi-circular accommodation in the upper part of the seal. Current and past Mexican peso coinage have had the seal engraved on the obverse of all denominations.

The coat of arms depicts a Mexican golden eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake. To the people of Tenochtitlan this would have strong religious connotations, but to the Europeans, it would come to symbolize the triumph of good over evil (with the snake sometimes representative of the serpent in the Garden of Eden).

Servando Teresa de Mier (1765-1827) was a Dominican friar who in December 1794 gave a famous speech on the Virgin of Guadalupe, leading to his expulsion from Spain. In 1811, he moved to London to support the cause of Mexican Independence in the press. There he joined Mina's expedition; however, he was captured in Soto la Marina, put on trial by the Inquisition, made prisoner and sent to Spain. Mier re-escaped to Mexico, where he was captured again. In 1823, Mier escaped for the seventh time and joined the Constitutional Congress.