National symbols of Italy are thesymbols that uniquely identifyItaly reflectingits history andculture.[1] They are used to represent thenation throughemblems,metaphors,personifications,allegories, which are shared by the entireItalian people.
Some of them are official, i.e. they are recognized by the Italian state authorities, while others are part of the identity of the country without being defined by law.
The three main official symbols,[2] whose typology is present in the symbology of all nations, are:
Of these only the flag is explicitly mentioned in the Italian Constitution; this normative insertion puts the flag under the protection of the law, making it possible criminal penalties for contempt of the same.[4]
Other official symbols, as reported by the Presidency of the Italian Republic,[2] are:
The teaching in the schools ofIl Canto degli Italiani, the reflection on theRisorgimento events, and on the adoption of the Flag of Italy are prescribed by law n. 222 of 23 November 2012.[5][6]
There are also other symbols or emblems of Italy which, although not defined by law, are part of the Italian identity:
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The Vittorio Emanuele II Monument (Italian:Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II) or Vittoriano, or alsoAltare della Patria (English:Altar of the Fatherland), is a monument built in honor ofVictor Emmanuel II, the first king of aunified Italy, located inRome,Italy.[16] It occupies a site between thePiazza Venezia and theCapitoline Hill. The monument was realized byGiuseppe Sacconi. It is currently managed by thePolo Museale del Lazio, theItalian Ministry of Defense and the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento Italiano.
From an architectural point of view it was conceived as a modernforum, anagora on three levels connected by stairways and dominated by aportico characterized by acolonnade. The complex process of national unity and liberation from foreign domination carried out by King Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy, to whom the monument is dedicated, has a great symbolic and representative value, being architecturally and artistically centered on theItalian unification: for this reason the Vittoriano is considered one of the national symbols of Italy.[17]
It also preserves the Altar of the Fatherland (Italian:Altare della Patria), first analtar of thegoddess Roma and then also ashrine of theItalian Unknown Soldier, thus adopting the function of alaytemple consecrated to Italy. Because of its great representative value, the entire Vittoriano is often called the Altare della Patria, although the latter constitutes only a part of it.
Located in the center ofancient Rome and connected to the modern one thanks to streets radiating from Piazza Venezia, it has been consecrated to a wide symbolic value representing - thanks to the call of the figure of Vittorio Emanuele II and the realization of the Altare della Patria - a lay temple metaphorically dedicated to a free and united and celebrating Italy - by virtue of the burial of the Unknown Soldier - the sacrifice for the homeland and for the connected ideals.
Thecockade of Italy (Italian:Coccarda italiana tricolore) is the nationalornament ofItaly, obtained by folding a green, white and red ribbon into aplissé using the technique calledplissage (pleating). It is one of the national symbols of Italy and is composed of thethree colours of theItalian flag with the green in the centre, the white immediately outside and the red on the edge.[18] The cockade with the red and green inverted position is instead that ofIran.[19] The cockade, a revolutionary symbol par excellence, was the protagonist of the uprisings that characterized theItalian unification, being pinned on the jacket or on the hats in its tricolour form by the many patriots who were protagonists of this period of thehistory of Italy - during which theItalian Peninsula achieved the own national unity - which culminated on 17 March 1861 with theproclamation of the Kingdom of Italy.[20] On 14 June 1848, it replaced the azure cockade on the uniforms of some departments of theRoyal Sardinian Army (becomeRoyal Italian Army in 1861), while on 1 January 1948, with thebirth of the Italian Republic, it took its place as a national ornament.[21]
The Italian tricolour cockade appeared for the first time inGenoa on 21 August 1789,[22] and with it the colours of the three Italian national colours,[22] anticipating by seven years the first tricolour military banner, which was adopted by theLombard Legion inMilan on 11 October 1796,[23] and of eight years the birth of theflag of Italy, which had its origins on 7 January 1797, when it became for the first time a national flag of an Italian sovereign State, theCispadane Republic.[24]
The Italian tricolour cockade is one of the symbols of theItalian Air Force, is widely used on all Italian stateaircraft, not only military,[25] it is the basis of theparadefrieze of theBersaglieri, cavalry regiments,Carabinieri andGuardia di Finanza,[26][27] and a reproduction of it in fabric is sewn on the shirts of the sports teams holding the Coppa Italia (English:Italy Cup) that are organized in variousnational team sports.[28] It is tradition, for themost important offices of the State, excluding thePresident of the Italian Republic, to have a tricolour cockade pinned to their jacket during themilitary parade of theFesta della Repubblica, which is celebrated every 2 June.[29]
Theemblem of the Italian Republic (Italian:emblema della Repubblica Italiana) was formally adopted by the newly formedItalian Republic on 5 May 1948. Although often referred to as acoat of arms (orstemma in Italian), it is technically anemblem akin to so-calledsocialist heraldry as it was not designed to conform to traditionalheraldic rules.
The emblem comprises a whitefive-pointed star, theStella d'Italia, with a thin red border, superimposed upon a five-spokedcogwheel, standing between anolive branch to the left side and anoak branch to the right side; the branches are in turn bound together by a red ribbon with the inscription "REPVBBLICA ITALIANA" ("Italian Republic" written in Italian, but in an ancient Roman-style Latin alphabet). The emblem is used extensively by theItalian government.
The armorial bearings of theHouse of Savoy,blazonedgules a cross argent, were previously in use by the formerKingdom of Italy; thesupporters, on either sidea lion rampant Or, were replaced withfasci littori (literally bundles of thelictors) during thefascist era.
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Festa della Repubblica ([ˈfɛstadellareˈpubblika]; in English,Republic Day) is the ItalianNational Day andRepublic Day, which is celebrated on 2 June each year, with the main celebration that takes place inRome. TheFesta della Repubblica is one of the national symbols of Italy.
The day commemorates the institutionalreferendum held byuniversal suffrage in 1946, in which the Italian people were called to the polls to decide on the form of government, following theSecond World War and thefall ofFascism
The ceremonial of the event organized in Rome includes the deposition of alaurel wreath as a tribute to theUnknown Soldier at theAltare della Patria by thePresident of the Italian Republic and amilitary parade alongVia dei Fori Imperiali in Rome.
Theflag of Italy (Italian:Bandiera d'Italia,Italian:[banˈdjɛːradiˈtaːlja]), often referred to in Italian asil Tricolore (Italian:[iltrikoˈloːre]), thenational flag ofItaly. It is atricolour featuring three equally sized verticalpales of green, white and red,national colours of Italy, with the green at the hoist side, as defined by article 12 of theConstitution of the Italian Republic.[30] The Italian law regulates its use and display, protecting its defense and providing for thecrime of insulting it; it also prescribes its teaching in Italian schools together with other national symbols of Italy.
TheTricolour Day,Flag Day dedicated to the Italian flag, was established by law n. 671 of 31 December 1996, which is held every year on 7 January. This celebration commemorates the first official adoption of the tricolour as a national flag by a sovereign Italian state, theCispadane Republic, a Napoleonicsister republic ofRevolutionary France, which took place inReggio Emilia on 7 January 1797, on the basis of the events following theFrench Revolution (1789–1799) which, among its ideals, advocated the nationalself-determination. The Italian national colours appeared for the first time inGenoa on atricolour cockade on 21 August 1789, anticipating by seven years the first green, white and red Italian militarywar flag, which was adopted by theLombard Legion inMilan on 11 October 1796.
After 7 January 1797, popular support for the Italian flag grew steadily, until it became one of the most important symbols of theItalian unification, which culminated on 17 March 1861 with theproclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, of which the tricolour became the national flag. Following its adoption, the tricolour became one of the most recognisable and defining features of united Italian statehood in the following two centuries of thehistory of Italy.
TheFrecce Tricolori ([ˈfrettʃetrikoˈloːri]; literally "Tricolour Arrows"), officially known as the313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (PAN) Frecce Tricolori ("313th Acrobatic Training Group, National Aerobatic Team (PAN) Frecce Tricolori"), is theaerobatic demonstration team of theItalian Air Force, based atRivolto Air Base,province of Udine, in the north-eastern Italian region ofFriuli-Venezia Giulia, born in 1961 following the decision of the same Air Force and to create a permanent group for the training for the collective air acrobatics of its pilots.
They were formed in 1961 as an Air Force team, replacing unofficial teams that had been sponsored by various commands by the beginning of the 1930s.[31] The team flies theAermacchi MB-339-A/PAN, a two-seatfighter-trainer craft capable of 898 km/h atsea level.[31][32] With ten aircraft, nine in training and a soloist, they are the world's largest acrobatics patrol, and their flight schedule, comprising about twenty acrobatics and about half an hour, made them the most famous in the world.[33]
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Inancient Roman religion,Roma was a femaledeity whopersonified the city ofRome and more broadly, the Roman state.[7] She was created and promoted to represent and propagate certain of Rome's ideas about itself, and to justify its rule. She was portrayed on coins, sculptures, architectural designs, and at official games and festivals. In Rome, the EmperorHadrian built and dedicated a gigantictemple to her asRoma Aeterna ("Eternal Rome"), and toVenus Felix, ("Venus the Bringer of Good Fortune"), emphasising the sacred, universal and eternal nature of the empire.[7] Roma's official cult served to advance the propagandist message of Imperial Rome. InRoman art and coinage, she is usually depicted in military form, with helmet and weapons. In Rome's eastern provinces, she was often shown withmural crown orcornucopia, or both.[34] Her image is rarely found in a commonplace or domestic context.[35] Roma was probably favoured by Rome's high-status Imperial representatives abroad, rather than the Roman populace at large. She was depicted on silver cups, arches, and sculptures, including the base of thecolumn of Antoninus Pius. She survived into the Christian period as a personification of the Roman state. Her depiction seated with a shield and spear later influenced that ofBritannia, personification of Britain.
TheAltar of theFatherland is the most famous part of theAltare della Patria inRome and is the one with which it is often identified.[36] On the top of the entrance stairway, it was designed by the Brescian sculptorAngelo Zanelli, who won a competition specially held in 1906.[37][36] It is formed from the side of theTomb of Italian Unknown Soldier that faces the outside of the building (the other side, which faces inside the Vittoriano, is in a crypt), from thesacellum of the statue of Roma (which is exactly above the tomb of the Unknown Soldier) and two vertical marblereliefs that descend from the edges of theaedicula containing the statue of the goddess Rome and which run downwards laterally to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.[37]
The statue of Roma present at the Vittoriano interrupted a custom in vogue until the 19th century, by which the representation of this subject was with exclusively warlike traits. Angelo Zanelli, in his work, decided to further characterize the statue by also providing the reference toAthena,Greek goddess ofwisdom and the arts, as well as of war.[38] The great statue of the deity emerges from a golden background.[36] The presence of the goddess Roma in the Vittoriano underlines the irremissible will of theUnification of Italy patriots to have the Rome as the capital of Italy, an essential concept, according to the common feeling, from the history of the peninsula and the islands ofItalian culture.[39][40]
"Il Canto degli Italiani" (Italian pronunciation:[ilˈkantodeʎʎitaˈljaːni];[41] "The Song ofItalians") is acanto written byGoffredo Mameli set to music byMichele Novaro in 1847,[42] and is the currentnational anthem ofItaly. It is best known among Italians as theInno di Mameli ([ˈinnodimaˈmɛːli], "Mameli's Hymn"), after the author of the lyrics, orFratelli d'Italia ([fraˈtɛllidiˈtaːlja], "Brothers of Italy"), from itsopening line. The piece, a4/4 inB-flat major, consists of sixstrophes and arefrain that is sung at the end of each strophe. The sixth group of verses, which is almost never performed, recalls the text of the first strophe.
The song was very popular during theunification of Italy and in the following decades, although after theproclamation of the Kingdom of Italy (1861) theMarcia Reale (Royal March), the official hymn of theHouse of Savoy composed in 1831 by order of KingCharles Albert of Sardinia, was chosen as the anthem of theKingdom of Italy. "Il Canto degli Italiani" was in factconsidered too little conservative with respect to the political situation of the time:Fratelli d'Italia, of clear republican andJacobin connotation, it was difficult to reconcile with the outcome of the unification of Italy, which was a monarchy.
After theSecond World War, Italybecame a republic, and "Il Canto degli Italiani" was chosen, on 12 October 1946, as a provisional national anthem, a role that it later preserved while remaining thede facto anthem of the Italian Republic. Over the decades there were several unsuccessful attempts to make it the official national anthem, but it finally gainedde jure status on 4 December 2017.
Italia turrita (pronounced[iˈtaːljaturˈriːta]; "Turreted Italy") is thenational personification orallegory ofItaly, in the appearance of a young woman with her head surrounded by amural crown completed bytowers (henceturrita or "with towers" inItalian). It is often accompanied by theStella d'Italia ("Star of Italy"), from which the so-calledItalia turrita e stellata ("turreted and stellate Italy"), and by other additional attributes, the most common of which is thecornucopia. The allegorical representation with the towers, which draws its origins fromancient Rome, is typical of Italian civicheraldry, so much so that the wall crown is also the symbol of thecities of Italy.
Italia turrita, which is one of the national symbols of Italy, has been widely depicted for centuries in the fields of art, politics and literature. Its most classic aspect, which derives from the primordial myth of theGreat Mediterranean Mother and which was definitively specified at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries byCesare Ripa, wants to symbolically convey the royalty and nobility of Italian cities (thanks to the presence of crown turrita), the abundance of agricultural crops of theItalian peninsula (represented by the cornucopia) and the shining destiny of Italy (symbolized by theStella d'Italia).
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The Italian sparrow is considered thenational bird of Italy.[13] In appearance, it is intermediate between thehouse sparrow, and theSpanish sparrow, a species of the Mediterranean and Central Asia closely related to the house sparrow. The Italian sparrow occurs in northern Italy and neighbouring regions, with intermediates with the house sparrow in a very narrow contact zone in theAlps, a slow gradation in appearance from the Italian to Spanish sparrows across central and southern Italy, and more birds of intermediate appearance inMalta,Crete, and other parts of the Mediterranean.
TheItalian wolf features prominently in Latin and Italian cultures, such as in the legend of thefounding of Rome.[8] It is unofficially considered thenational animal of Italy.[9][10] The Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus orCanis lupus lupus), also known as theApennine wolf, is asubspecies of grey wolf native to theItalian Peninsula. It inhabits theApennine Mountains and theWestern Alps, though it is undergoing expansion towards the north and east. As of 2019, the Italian wolf population is estimated to consist of 1500–2000 individuals.[43] It has been strictly protected inItaly since the 1970s, when the population reached a low of 70–100 individuals. The population is increasing in number, though illegal hunting and persecution still constitute a threat. Since the 1990s, the Italian wolf's range has expanded into southwesternFrance[44] andSwitzerland.[45] Although not universally recognised as a distinct subspecies, it nonetheless possesses a uniquemtDNAhaplotype[46] and a distinct skullmorphology.
Thenational colours of Italy are green, white, and red, collectively known inItalian asil Tricolore (English:the Tricolour,Italian:[iltrikoˈloːre]). The three Italian national colours appeared for the first time inGenoa on 21 August 1789 on thecockade of Italy shortly after the outbreak of theFrench Revolution, on 11 October 1796 they were used for the first time inMilan on amilitary banner, while on 7 January 1797 inReggio Emilia they appearedfor the first time on a flag.
Insport in Italy, it is instead widely used thesavoy azure, a chromatic tone that was adopted for the first time in 1910 on the uniforms of theItaly national football team and which owes its name to the fact that it is the color ofHouse of Savoy, theruling dynasty in Italy from 1861 to 1946. It became national color with theunification of Italy (1861), and its use continued even afterItaly became a republic (1946).
Thenational auto racing colour of Italy is insteadrosso corsa ("racing red"), while in other disciplines such ascycling andwinter sports, white is often used.
ThePresidential standard of Italy (Italian:Stendardo presidenziale italiano) is the distinctive standard of the presence of thePresident of the Italian Republic.
Therefore, it follows the Head of State whenever he leaves theQuirinal Palace, where he is exposed during his presence.[47] The standard is displayed on the means of transport on which the president ascends, outside theprefectures when the president is visiting a city and inside the halls where he acts in an official capacity.[47] The presidential standard is one of the National symbols of Italy.
The standard recalls the colors of theflag of Italy, with particular reference to the standard of the historicItalian Republic of 1802-1805; the square shape and thesavoy blue border, whose use was maintained even in the Republican era, symbolize theItalian Armed Forces, which are commanded by the president.[47] Blue inheraldry also metaphorically symbolizes command.[48]
TheStella d'Italia ("Star of Italy"), popularly known asStellone d'Italia ("Great Star of Italy"),[49] is afive-pointed white star symbolizingItaly for many centuries. It is the oldest national symbol of Italy, since it dates back toGraeco-Roman tradition[14] whenVenus, associated with the West as an evening star, was hired to identify the Italian peninsula. From an allegorical point of view, theStella d'Italiametaphorically represents the shining destiny of Italy.[50]
In the early 16th century it began to be frequently associated withItalia turrita, thenational personification of theItalian peninsula. TheStella d'Italia was adopted as part of theemblem of Italy in 1947, where it is superimposed on a steelcogwheel, all surrounded by anoak branch and anolive branch.
Thestrawberry tree began to be considered one of the national symbols of Italy in the 19th century, during theItalian unification, because with its autumn colours it recalls theflag of Italy (green for its leaves, white for its flowers and red for its berries).[11][51] For this reason it is thenational tree of Italy.[11] The flower of the strawberry tree is thenational flower of Italy.[12]
National symbols are defined as the symbols or icons of a national community (such as England), used to represent that community in a way that unites its people.
