San Juan Chamula Carnival

San Juan Chamula Carnival
In this town the dominant theme of the carnival is war and conquest, since for them all conflicts have certain features in common: an armed conqueror who arrives with flags and fireworks, and the conqueror has a lover.

They also commemorate the passion of Christ, since the domination of the Romans over the Jews and the crucifixion of Christ are associated with this event. For the Chamulas, there is nothing strange about mixing the passion of Christ with the Conquest of Mexico, the French intervention, the Ladino invasion of Chamula during the Caste War, the 19th century dispute between Chiapas and Guatemala, and the Mexican revolution, since there are certain themes and elements common to all of them.

The flags, drums, bugles, cannons and rockets are important elements in the rite of the party, each event begins and ends with the placement of cannons and rockets.

The flag represents the spear that pierced the body of Christ, the flagpole is topped by a metallic spearhead called "the head of our father" which is attached to the pole with red and green ribbons. The flag cloth and ribbons symbolize the garments of Christ. The flag is made of flowery cotton fabric, since the flower is the symbol of divinity in Chamula.