Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe

Día de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, or the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe

The Virgin of Guadalupe has symbolized the Mexican nation since Mexico's War of Independence. Rebel armies waged war underneath Guadalupan flags, and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is generally recognized as a symbol of all Mexicans.

Guadalupe's first major use as a nationalistic symbol was in the writing of Miguel Sánchez, the author of the first Spanish language apparition account. Sanchez identified Guadalupe as Revelation's Woman of the Apocalypse, and said that

"this New World has been won and conquered by the hand of the Virgin Mary...[who had] prepared, disposed, and contrived her exquisite likeness in this her Mexican land, which was conquered for such a glorious purpose, won that there should appear so Mexican an image."

It is not an official holiday