Calavera
The skull, in sugar, paper or poem, that is a symbol of the Day of the Dead.
Also: sugar skull, la catrina
The calavera, Spanish for skull, appears at the Day of the Dead in many forms: sugar skulls decorated with icing and foil, with the name of the dead or living on the forehead, paper cutouts in bright colours, painted faces and short satirical poems called calaveras literarias. La Catrina, an elegant female skeleton in a large hat, drawn by the printmaker Jose Guadalupe Posada, has become the emblem of the festival, and its meaning is that death makes us all equal. The skulls are friendly and playful, as the day is an affectionate reunion with the dead rather than a fearful one.
Region: North America