Processions have formed the most important part of Mexican civic and religious ceremonies since colonial times. Linear sequences of people moving through public areas resided at the center of royal celebrations mandated by the Spanish Crown and national holidays decreed by Mexican governments after Independence. Processions also comprised the heart of many devotional rituals associated with Roman Catholicism. Various types of processions, including royal pageants, military parades, religious pilgrimages, and funeral corteges, served different purposes. Generally speaking, processions were performed to inspire loyalty to the Crown or republic; commemorate important events; extol historical figures; reaffirm religious piety; reinforce corporate and social hierarchies; promote social cohesion; educate the masses; coalesce national identity; and entertain the people. Other forms of processions broke down the status quo. The numerous triumphal entries of invading armies into Mexico City and antigovernment demonstrations called attention to changes in Mexican history. Processions in major cities involved thousands of participants and spectators, but even smaller processions in rural villages drew attention. Regardless of their size and purpose, processions remain the most spectacular and meaningful rituals in Mexico today.

Inhabitants of New Spain had countless opportunities to witness or participate in extravagant royal ceremonies that included processions. From 1528 to 1540, Fernando (Hernán) Cortés ordered the Paseo de Pendón on the feast day of San Hipólito, every August 19. Mandated by the Crown's real cédula in 1530, this flag ceremony commemorated Cortés's conquest of Mexico and represented the first Spanish civic-religious festival performed in the New World. The parade route originally extended from Cortés's palace in Coyoacán to the San Hipólito Church, but after the first Spanish viceroy's arrival, the alférez real (an appointed official) unfurled the Pendón Real and paraded it proudly through most of the principal streets of Mexico City. Viceregal officials, nobles, and clergymen followed in proper order according to rank. Allegiance was also demonstrated symbolically through processions honoring a monarch's ascension (the jura del rey) and celebrating royal marriages, births, and deaths. Colonial functionaries also arranged grand cavalcades to welcome the arrival of a new viceroy or high royal official to New Spain. Inspired by the beneficence of Felipe III of Spain, members of colonial Guadalajara's municipal council organized a splendid parade in 1608 to salute Juan de Villela, the new president of the Royal Audiencia (High Court). Government officials and gentlemen lined the streets on horseback as trumpeters announced his entrance to the city.