December 12 is perhaps the most important day on Mexico's fiesta calendar, for it is the day which honors the "Mother of the Mexicans," the Virgin of Guadalupe. According to legend, an apparition of the Virgin appeared to the recently converted Indian Juan Diego in 1531 on the hill of Tepeyac, just north of Mexico City; this site had served in pre-Conquest times as an ancient pilgrimage site dedicated to the Aztec earth goddess, Tonantzin. A brown-skinned Virgin, speaking in Juan Diego's native tongue of Nahuatl, declared herself to be Mary, the Mother of Christ, and requested that a church be built in her honor on the hill. Juan Diego, upon relating his vision and the Virgin's request to Fray Juan de Zumarraga, the Archbishop of Mexico City, was met with skepticism and doubt. Rejected, he returned to the hill, where the Virgin provided him with a sign which would surely convince the skeptical Archbishop: she filled his tilma, or cloak, with roses, which were out of season at the time. Upon opening his cloak in front of the Archbishop the roses spilled out, exposing a miraculous image of the Virgin which had become imprinted upon it. Declaring the incident to be a miracle, the Archbishop ordered that a basilica be erected at the site. To this day it continues to be a pilgrimage site for the devout. A new basilica, erected near the original, houses what is believed to be the cloak which bears her image, now venerated as a holy relic.

The significance of the Virgin of Guadalupe transcends the sacred, for she is a woman of complex symbolism: one which signifies liberation, conquest, assimilation, and cultural identity. Her image has been historically associated with political figures and movements, such as the insurgent nineteenth century priest Padre Miguel Hidalgo, who carried the Banner of Revolt, emblazoned with her image, as a battle standard in launching the Mexican struggle for independence. In the decade following 1910, the notorious rebel leader of the Mexican Revolution, Emiliano Zapata, and his followers, the zapatistas, also invoked her to support their cause, wearing her image on the bands of their wide-brimmed hats. Traditionally, she is depicted with brown skin and black hair, is dressed in a blue or green cloak covered with golden stars, and standing atop a crescent moon which is, in turn, supported by a cherub. Considered a cult figure in Mexico, her image often appears with more frequency that that of Jesus Christ.

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