Cinco De Mayo Clip Art

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French empire at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. In 1861, the liberal Mexican government defaulted on debt payments to European countries. Wanting repayment, France, Britain, and Spain sent naval forces to Veracruz to demand compensation. Britain and Spain negotiated and withdrew their forces but France, ruled by Napoleon III, decided to use military force to overthrow the Mexican government and establish a French empire in Mexico.

In March 1862, French forces began advancing from the coast towards Mexico City. On May 5th, they met resistance from the Mexican army led by General Ignacio Zaragoza near Puebla de Los Ángeles. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the Mexicans defeated the French army. This victory is celebrated yearly as Cinco de Mayo, symbolizing Mexican courage and victory over tyranny.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is primarily observed in Puebla where the historic battle took place. Festivities include parades, recreation of the battle, patriotic speeches, and other cultural events. In the United States and elsewhere, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican heritage through Latino cultural festivals showcasing food, music, and dance. Many cities have street festivals and parties on this date. Celebrations see people wearing traditional Mexican clothing, cooking Mexican food, drinking tequila and margaritas, dancing, and listening to mariachi bands.

Cinco de Mayo Traditions

Common Cinco de Mayo traditions include wearing sombreros and colorful ponchos, dancing to salsa and mariachi music, eating Mexican fare like tacos and enchiladas, and drinking tequila and margaritas. Many cities and bars host festivals and parties featuring these elements of Mexican culture. Other traditions like Mexican folk dancing and performances, Mexican flags and decorations, piñatas, and louder firecrackers are also very popular ways to celebrate the day.

Cinco de Mayo Outside Mexico

While a minor holiday in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture in the United States and elsewhere. Mexico’s defeat of French imperial forces on May 5, 1862 represented the ability of an oppressed people to overcome a larger, more capable invading force. However, most non-Mexicans mistakenly equate the holiday with Mexican Independence day. Yet that victory over Spain had occurred decades earlier in 1810. Regardless, people of many cultures join in Cinco de Mayo festivities as a way to partake in Mexican food, music, and heritage. Major celebrations occur in cities with large Mexican-American populations.

Popular Cinco de Mayo Food and Drinks

Tasty Mexican cuisine is an integral part of most Cinco de Mayo festivities. Traditional foods served include mole poblano – a signature spicy chocolate-based Mexican sauce, tacos with steak (carne asada) or grilled chicken (pollo asado), enchiladas drenched in red and green mole sauces, tamales wrapped in corn husks stuffed with meats and chilies, and fresh guacamole made from avocados and lime juice. Sizzling fajitas, quesadillas, churros, and flan are also very popular. Margaritas, beer, tequila, and Mexican sodas are iconic Cinco de Mayo beverages.

Common Cinco de Mayo Decorations

Decorating for Cinco de Mayo focuses heavily on the symbolic red, white, and green of the Mexican national flag. Other decor elements try to transport party spaces into the vibrant culture of Mexico. These include hanging Mexican flags and buntings in the flag colors, artificial flower garlands like marigolds and roses, papel picado – colorful Mexican tissue paper banners, piñatas and papier mâché sculptures, sombreros, maracas, craft paper flowers, and terra cotta pots filled with cacti and succulents to mimic the Mexican desert landscape. For an authentic fiesta ambience, playing Latin American music really enhances the decorated spaces.

Cinco de Mayo Clip Art

Clip art refers to generic line art illustrations used to decorate documents and publications. Cinco de Mayo clip art features many icons of Mexican culture in bright vibrant hues that reflect the energy and atmosphere of fiestas. Common Cinco de Mayo clipart includes top-down views of sombreros in vivid colors, drawings of maracas and mariachi musical instruments, patterns incorporating cacti and agave plants found in Mexico, silhouettes of people wearing ponchos and doing salsa dancing moves. Other clip art shows Mexican pink paper flower artwork, mission-style architecture shapes, clay pots styled like Talavera ceramics, and decorative skull (calavera) icons associated with Mexico’s Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) holiday.

Images of Mexican Culture

There are many easily recognizable images commonly associated with traditional Mexican culture that appear in Cinco de Mayo clip art collections. These include the traditional wide-brimmed sombrero hats, rattles called maracas played in Mariachi bands, guitar-like instruments of Marichis, flowing colorful skirts of womenfolk dancers, tall vibrant cactus varieties like saguaro that fill the arid landscapes, fierce mustachioed men in wide ammunition belts firing rifles skyward, and masked lucha libre wrestlers in action poses. Other cultural images seen are Spanish mission bell towers, clay pots, desert scenes with agave plants, and Latin American style patterns incorporating sun, skulls, and floral motifs.

Photos of Cinco de Mayo Celebrations

Clip art libraries offer many photographic images showing Cinco de Mayo events and festivities that can be incorporated into signage and decoration projects. These photos depict crowds at festivals dancing, waving flags on floats in parades, cities festooned with decorations, costumes and masked dancers, food preparation and dishes, street parties with bands playing for big crowds, people in traditional outfits performing folk dances, kids hitting piñatas, drinking and merriment in bars, and contestants in chili pepper eating challenges. Using such photos in banners, cards, brochures, etc. helps quickly convey the spirit behind the Cinco de Mayo holiday.

Using Clip Art for Cinco de Mayo Crafts

The bright colors and cultural icons prevalent in Cinco de Mayo clip art make them perfect for arts, crafts, and decor projects. Printable clip art can be cut out and incorporated into all manner of DIY creations. Make posters, banners, greeting cards, postcards, bookmarks, scrapbooks, and calendars using clip art elements. Clip art also gets used to decorate piñatas, make Mexican flower paper chains, design wrapping paper, color masks and props for kids to use at their own fiesta-themed parties. Even simple things like party invites, badges, stickers, and iron-on T-shirt transfers can be spruced up using readily available Cinco de Mayo clip art.

In this page clipartix present 52 cinco de mayo clipart images free for designing activities. Lets download Cinco De Mayo Clip Art that you want to use for works or personal uses.