Harnizo was the name of a caste within the colonial caste system, which existed at a social level in the Spanish Empire and its American colonies and was a ethnic category portrayed in eighteenth-century casta paintings. Castes classified people born as a result of intermarriage between the three ethnic groups that Spain considered to exist: indigenous, black, and spaniard. Harnizo was defined by the offspring of individuals belonging to the mestizo caste with the castizo caste. Harnizo also resulted from the mixing of a coyote with a spaniard. A coyote is born to a mestizo and an indigenous person.
| Caste | % spaniard | % indigenous | % black |
|---|---|---|---|
| mestizo (español + india) | 50 | 50 | 0 |
| harnizo (castizo + mestiza) | 62,5 | 37,5 | 0 |
| castizo (mestizo + española) | 75 | 25 | 0 |