Wikipedia article of the day for May 30, 2026

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 30, 2026 is Serpent labret with articulated tongue.
The serpent labret with articulated tongue is a gold-alloy body ornament from the Aztec culture of the mid-second millennium. Designed to be inserted into a piercing below the lower lip, it depicts a fanged serpent poised to strike, with a bifurcated tongue hanging from its mouth. The tongue, which is moveable and retractable (animation pictured), would have swung from side to side with its wearer's movements. Art historians have described it as among the finest of the fewer than 400 Aztec gold objects known to survive. The labret is 6.7 cm (2.6 in) high, 6.7 cm (2.6 in) long, and weighs 51 grams (1.81 oz). Consisting of a gold, copper, and silver alloy, it was made by lost-wax casting. Labrets, or lip plugs, were associated with eloquence and nobility in Aztec culture, while gold was a hallmark of divinity. The serpent may represent Xiuhcōātl, the fire serpent wielded as a weapon by the sun god Huītzilōpōchtli. The labret was purchased in 2016 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.