Santiago Matamoros
New Orleans Museum of Art

The patron saint of Spain and of soldiers, Santiago was heavenly embodiment of the successful military struggle against the Moors in Spain and infidels in any land. He is often represented as a soldier in armor (St. James the Moor-Slayer) with raised sword, mounted on a white horse, with bodies of fallen Moors beneath. His main role in the colonial era was to oversee control of rebel Indians. As Knights of the order of Santiago, Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru, and his brother, Hernando, helped spread the popularity of the Saint in the New World. By 1803 some 155 towns in Spanish America carried Santiago in their names, including Santiago de Chile and Santiago de Guayaquil.