La tierra que nos sustenta

Identity Symbols
From the agrarian history of this country, symbols that have been recognized by
Salvadoreans through time and that identify us as a nation emerge. In this chapter
we present species that have given us identity: the historic crops, which have marked
progress; the natural symbols chosen by the Government to represent the homeland;
and the species that each Salvadorean identifies as their own and when we are outside
the country they evoke our roots and sense of belonging.
Our historical crops have had two functions in time: as sacred species in the
cosmovision of first civilizations Nahuas and Mayas, as raw material for commercial
interchange during the conquest and Spanish Colony. Cacao, añil, and corn meant
newness for Ancient World. New economic oportunities were trazed throughout
the fruits of the New World. Each flavor had a cultural value and an economic
global impact.
Through the 19th century, coffee gave a historical transformation for the nation; its
importance is still valuable in our times. Despite the changes in time, natural symbols
renew its meanings for each generation. Central America was an agrarian region,
whose crops gave prosperity through centuries. To institutionalize this identity
meant to also economically nationalize natural species. Coffee and sugarcane are
important crops to form our identity, but due to the economic transcendence that
they have, we will include them in the chapter "Furrows for Development", since
their crop covers a vast extension of our territory and provides a source of income
to thousands of families.
Salvadoreans identify themselves from a natural perspective, whose landscape
and species they have turned into icons. The Government has chosen some of
them to nominate our national symbols; the "Izote" as the national flower, the
"Maquilishuat" and the balm as our national trees, the exhuberance of the
volcanoes surrounded by a crown with laurel leaves for our national shield; and the
"Ceiba", an ancient sacred tree as our national symbol for peace.
The biologist Leiman Ricardo Lara Guerra has sought to make a cultural reading
of the national botany. In his book "Plantas emblemáticas. El Salvador historia
y agricultura", he ensures that native plants represent the Salvadorean culture
and the time when they were introduced, "represents the foundation for political,
economic and cultural aspirations of society".
Cortés blanco,
Handroanthus chrysanthus.
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