Agustín de Iturbide

Who was Agustín de Iturbide?

Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu, also known as Augustine I of Mexico, was a Mexican army general and politician. During the Mexican War of Independence, he built a successful political and military coalition that took control in Mexico City on 27 September 1821, decisively gaining independence. After the liberation of Mexico was secured, he was proclaimed President of the Regency in 1821. A year later, he was announced as the Constitutional Emperor of the new nation, reigning as Emperor briefly from 19 May 1822 to 19 March 1823. He is credited as the original designer of the first Mexican flag.

Although Iturbide's reign was short, it defined the political struggles before and after independence. The two ends of Mexico's political spectrum, liberals who favored populist representative government and conservatives who favored a more authoritarian regime, would each gain the upper hand at various times in the decades after Iturbide's abdication.