Kicker - Santa Fe spelling

NICK EICHER, HOST: We know the capital city of New Mexico by the diminutive Santa Fe.

Of course, the name is Spanish for “Holy Faith,” and how that’s not been held unconstitutional by some court is beyond me.

What you may not know is the original full name. It’s not just holy faith. It’s the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi, and I won’t attempt the Spanish pronunciation. 

The city fathers probably shouldn’t have, either, because they misspelled it in the city seal. The Spanish version of Assisi has an accent over the “i,” but in the city seal, one of the s’s received the accent, and if you know Spanish, you know that’s wrong. 

A Spanish surnamed reporter for the local newspaper noticed it and let the mayor know. To his great credit, he was embarrassed by the error and said he’d get the city design team on it right away.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

(Photo/City of Santa Fe)

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.