The renowned painter Diego Rivera designed Nayarit’s coat of arms in 1921. A corn plant fills the upper left portion of the emblem, symbolizing the state’s capital, Tepic, the name of which comes from the Aztec word for corn, tepictu. At the upper right a golden bow and arrow represent Nayarit, the god of war worshipped by the Cora, the region’s most prominent indigenous tribe; Nayarit is said to have invented the bow and arrow. At the bottom, white peaks signify the Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain chain that was home to the Nayar kingdom in the 1500s. At the center of the coat of arms, a small shield depicts an eagle eating a snake on a cactus, the nation’s symbol. Seven footprints encircle the small shield, representing the seven Aztec tribes that walked from the mythical Aztlán to their new home at Tenochtitlán.