Currently, the national flag of Italy is a rectangular panel, which consists of three equal vertical stripes. There is a green stripe at the pole, a white stripe in the middle, and a red stripe at the very edge. The aspect ratio of the banner is two to three.
Officially, this flag was approved on the nineteenth of June one thousand nine hundred and forty-six. Officially, the color of the flag stripes is interpreted as follows: the red stripe represents love, the white stripe represents hope, and the green one represents the bright future of Italy. In addition, these colors are considered traditional for the country. The image of a red cross on a white background was on the ancient coat of arms that belonged to the Milan commune. Green fabric was often used to sew the uniform of the Milan Municipal Guard. The colors of the famous Italian Legion were colored green, white and red. The appearance of the French flag undoubtedly influenced the Italian tricolor. In addition, for the first time the flag of Italy was approved at the end of the eighteenth century by Napoleon.
Initially, the stripes on the flag were located horizontally, but by the ninety-eighth year their location was changed and in this form the banner officially became the symbol of the Ciezal Republic. Seven years later, after the reorganization of the republic into a kingdom, the green strip was decorated with a golden Napoleonic eagle. In one thousand eight hundred and sixty-first year, a green-white-red rectangular banner with the Savoy coat of arms (it depicts a quiver with four arrows, a laurel wreath and trophies of war) in the center of the white stripe was the state flag of the Kingdom of Italy. The Kingdom of Sardinia had a similar flag and, perhaps, the Italians simply adopted its main features. In the first half of the last century, the crown of monarchs was often depicted on the national flag of Italy. The royal coat of arms disappeared from the banner after Italy again became a republic in the forty-sixth year of the last century. In addition to the flag of France, the national flag of Italy is also similar to the flag of Ireland.
The flag of Italy consists of three equal vertical stripes of different colors, that is, it is a tricolor. There is a green stripe on the left side, a white stripe in the center, and a red stripe on the right side. The red and white colors were borrowed from national flag Duchy of Milan, green was added to represent the Civil Guard of Milan.
Green on the Italian flag represents hope and joy, white represents peace and honesty, and red represents strength and valor. Also, the colors of the flag of Italy can be interpreted as follows: red symbolizes a fierce struggle for a united and independent state, green - the landscapes and landscapes of Italy, and white - the Alps with snow-capped tops.
History of the flag of Italy
The tricolor of Italy is believed to be based on the French flag. Napoleon's troops brought the flag to Italy in 1797, and on January 7, 1797, the XIV Parliament of the Cispadan Republic officially approved the flag. After the integration of the Cispadan Republic and the Transpadan Republic, the tricolor began to represent a larger state. Although the Italian Republic (which existed in 1802-1805) adopted a new flag, the tricolor remained in circulation as the state flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and later, in 1861, as the flag of the Kingdom of Italy, which helped to unite the nation. However, on these flags in the center were placed images of the crown and shield of the House of Savoy. At the end of World War II, on June 19, 1946, the Italian Republic officially adopted a simple tricolor, without any images. In November 1947, the country's naval insignia was added to the country's civil and naval flags to distinguish the flag of Italy from the flag of Mexico.
The national flag of the state is considered an important sign of statehood. According to certain flags, one can study the very history of the emergence and development of the state. Numerous modern European powers acquired their own final national development not so long ago, but even in ancient times, peoples had their own symbolic flags.
Several centuries ago, the Italian state did not yet exist, but the most ancient formations that had their own attributes were located on the Apennine Peninsula. Italy is one of the few countries that previously had a large variety of flags. For each individual city of ancient Italy, there were separate banners and flags.
State symbol meaning, solemn celebration
The Italian flag is depicted as three vertical stripes in green, white and red. The color sequence is exactly the same. It is displayed on a panel with proportions of 2: 3.
The flag of Italy or “il tricolore” - as the inhabitants themselves call it, is the most important symbol of Italians, and they present its designation as a reflection of faith, love and hope. The green, white and red tricolor originated earlier than the state itself, but still does not have an exact designation. Most Italians assume that green stands for faith, white for hope, and red for love.
January 7 in Italy is recognized as an official holiday of the national flag. Despite the absence of an official day off, the Day of the National Flag of Italy is celebrated by Italians magnificently and solemnly. Italians treat the special designation of their homeland with care and trepidation, while the majority of the Italian people supported the authorities in the proposal to introduce a fine for public outrage over an attribute of the state, namely the national flag of Italy. So, in 2005, a fine was introduced in the amount of 5 to 10 thousand euros for desecrating the national flag in public places. The violator will have to pay a fine to the Italian treasury.
The history of the flag
The history of the creation of the flag itself began in the 17th century, but it has not yet been possible to determine who exactly is behind the creation of the Italian tricolor for all people interested in its education. There are only a few versions of the education of state attributes.
The most popular version of the creation of the national flag is associated with two students at Bolkon University. It consisted in the following. University students - Luigi Zamboni and Giovanni Battista De Rolandis in the fall of 1794 formed a riot. The rebels used cockades of the colors of the flag that have survived to this day, but the riot was quickly eliminated. Luigi Zamboni committed suicide, and Giovanni Battista De Rolandis was executed in public by other citizens of the state, but the memory of the students remains to this day. The tricolor changed only in two moments: the stripes turned from horizontal to vertical, and the coats of arms in the center of the flag were abandoned. Later, the flag underwent a transformation: instead of stripes, squares were depicted. Then the Emperor himself ordered to change the flag. The order was followed by the following: "so that an eagle flaunted on the flag of the country." It was only after the end of the Second World War that the eagle lost its place on the flag.
There is another unusual legend of adopting just such a color scheme for the flag. According to some experts who have studied the history of the emergence of Italian attributes, it was borrowed from the city of Milan, or rather from its banner. It had white and red colors on it. The color green was also directly related to the city of Milan, it was in it, in the civil guard, that uniforms of a green shade were worn.
The most plausible version, according to most experts, is that the color of the Italian flag originated from the French state flag. In 1796 it was designed under Napoleon with a lot of borrowing from the French flag.
However, initially the stripes had a horizontal position, and only in 1798 they began to be located vertically. Despite the fame about the development of state symbols with an eye on France, to this day it remains unknown who exactly proposed to paint the canvas in such a color scheme.
Despite the fact that the full history of the appearance of the national flag of Italy remains still completely unknown, this has its advantages. First of all, this provides an opportunity for all citizens of Italy to adhere to the most familiar version. It is worth noting that for over two hundred years the Italian flag has not undergone any changes or additions. This only speaks of the stable development of this state and the correct choice in favor of the type of state attribute.
The Italians themselves call their national flag affectionately il Tricolore. And even though italian flag well known to the whole world, but few people know that he appeared even before the state itself.
More precisely, more than two hundred years ago against the backdrop of the French Revolution. Luigi Zamboni and Giovanni Battista De Rolandis are two students from Bologna who raised a student riot in November 1794 for the independence of Bologna. Some historians believe that Napoleon himself directed the activities of one of the students, intending to invade the Apennines.
The badges that became the symbol of this riot were red, white and green stripes. It was very similar to the symbol of the revolution in France, only the Italians decided to replace the blue with green. The riot was suppressed, the students were caught. One of them was executed, the other hanged himself. A little later, Napoleon ordered the reburial of the organizers of the riot on Mount Mantagnola. At the same time, he expelled the governor of Popa, took away the property from the Church and publicly recognized the Cispadan Republic, the symbol of which was the banner of a student revolt. That is why many believe that the flag for Italy was invented by Napoleon himself.
The flag of italy changed several times. For example, in 1797, after the unification of the Cispadan and Transpadan republics, the stripes on it became vertical. And after five years, the stripes turned into squares: white rum on a red background and a green square inside. At the moment when Napoleon changed the republic to the kingdom, the flag was decorated with the emperor's eagle.
10 years after the overthrow of Napoleon and his empire, the royal banner of Italy was lost. However, those same three shades - red, green and white - still existed in the history of the Italian lands.
In 1947, the Italian Constitution officially proclaimed the tricolor as the country's official symbol. And if until the beginning of the 19th century no one attached much importance to the shades of the flag, then a little later it became important. In accordance with the pantone system, the flag is marked as “scarlet”, “fern green” and “bright white” (originally Scarlet Red, Fern Green Bright White).
Green, as originally, symbolizes hope. White is a symbol of faith, but red, of course, is love. Although Italians themselves like to joke that their flag is a reflection of the main national dish - pizza with tomatoes, salad and mozzarella.
Anyway, the Italian flag has not changed its shades for two hundred years, which speaks of the stability of the country's development. And the Italians themselves are very sensitive to this symbol. So on January 7, on National Flag Day, the inhabitants of the Apennines not only decorate houses and streets with tricolors, but also wear clothes of those very shades. Naples in Slavic
Perchè la bandiera Italiana è Verde, Bianca e Rossa?
The modern Italian flag is surprisingly young, only half a century older than a united Italy, but its history is no less rich than the history of the state it represents.
The idea of three state colors was born in 1794 by two students of the University of Bologna - Luigi Zamboni from and Giovanni Batista De Rolandis from Castell "Alfero (Asti). Firstly, these are white and red. Their use was mandatory, as the whole history of Italy dictates. , because since ancient times it was represented by two main flags: a white cross on a red background and a red cross on a white background. Young patriots added green to them - the color of hope for the unity and prosperity of their country. Much later, red became associated with the blood shed for the unification of Italy ...
True, it is not known for certain how much poetical meaning students attached to green, and how true this story is in general. It is highly likely that all three colors symbolized the influential Milan at the time: the red and white colors of its flag and the green color of the uniform of the Milan Civil Guard.
When the national coat of arms is placed on the tricolor, a blue color appears, which symbolizes the Savoy royal dynasty since 1366. It all started with a blue scarf Amadeo VI, embroidered with gold stars, and gradually, in the form of officers of the Savoyard regiments, a blue scarf appeared, which was tied around the waist. Moreover, this element became mandatory in 1572. Centuries after its appearance, the blue scarf became a distinctive element of the officer's rank. The blue-blue color is the main color in the production of clothing for Italian athletes, which is why they received the nickname "azzurri", i.e. "Blue", "azure".
Napoleon "helped" the Italians to decide on the arrangement of colors on the new flag. He unified the symbols of the conquered territories and distributed colors similar to the French version - three stripes of the same width, with white in the middle. The French Revolution ended, leaving Italy with a new flag - a symbol of freedom, equality and brotherhood.
But let's start in order.
History
The white cross on a red background and a red cross on a white background arose even before the Crusades and denoted the independence of medieval cities. This flag was widely used by the Milanese, and with the increasing influence of the city, its symbols were recognized in more and more distant lands. The version with a white background became so popular that it was adopted not only in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Venetian Republic and later the Papal State, but also, according to some historians, in distant England.
The idea of students from Bologna was materialized two years later. In 1796, the Lombard Legion adopted a new tricolor banner. It was very similar to the modern version, but it was in the shape of a square. And the next year, the same square tricolor soared over Modena, becoming the symbol of the Cisalpine Republic. Official documents indicate January 7, 1797 as the date of the adoption of the tricolor state flag. He also became the banner of the Italian legion created a little earlier. For almost a year, the stripes on the square canvas were located horizontally: red, white, green. But in 1798, the drawing was turned 90 °.
In 1802, significantly with the renaming of the Cisalpine Republic into the Italian, the style of the civil flag changed, its colors remained the same, but it was decided to abandon the stripes. The drawing began to represent three colored squares: white is inscribed in red, and green in it. Thus, it was possible to emphasize the unification of the four provinces that make up the Republic.
Flags of the Cisalpine Republic (original and unfolded) and the civilian banner of the Italian Republic
In 1804, Italian ambassadors, under green, white and red colors, came to Napoleon to ask him to accept the crown of the Italian Kingdom. The flag unified by the new emperor received the traditional golden eagle on a green stripe, but did not last long and was considered exclusively military. The civilian flag of three squares also remained in circulation, it only slightly extended and acquired a golden imperial eagle in the center. Ten years later, Napoleon's unifying reforms were brought to naught by the Austrians, who were only in favor of territorial fragmentation, and the royal flags were forgotten.
Over the following years, the colors on the flag remained constant, but their combinations were very different. Much of this diversity is due to the fragmentation of the country and constant territorial changes. For example, the flag of the Kingdom of Italy at the beginning of the 18th century was dominated by rectangles, and in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, green and red were used as a frame for a white field. But more and more kingdoms and republics took as a basis the option proposed by Napoleon, supplementing it with the coat of arms and other distinctive signs.
For about a year and a half (from 1943 to 1945), the fascist Italian social republic existed on the territory of northern Italy, opposing the allied forces. The tricolor was chosen as its flag with a Roman silver eagle placed in its center, spreading its wings, - a symbol of war.
After World War II, the coat of arms and crown finally disappeared from the Italian tricolor. The country turned into a Republic, and the flag became national and uniform for all territories. His style has been documented and validated in accordance with international rules.
Specifications
For the first time, the characteristics of the new national flag were published on December 27, 1947 in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, issued under number 298. A paragraph from the Constitution stated a three-color horizontal canvas with an aspect ratio of 2: 3. The colors were determined simply:
Green,
- White,
- Red.
In 2002, it became necessary to indicate the specific tones of each color. The stripes received not only the exact shade code, but also a verbal description:
Green (Golf Green) - shiny green grass;
- white (Cloud Dancer) - white milk;
- red (Tomato) - red tomato.
In 2004, the color scheme changed slightly, which was reflected in the official descriptions:
Green (Fern Green) - green fern;
- white (Bright White) - bright white;
- red (Scarlet Red) - bright red, scarlet.
Aircraft of the Italian Air Force have a special designation. Their symbol is the circular version of the tricolor, when the central green circle is concentrically enclosed in white and red rings. On an emblem used in poor visibility conditions, the central green circle is enlarged relative to the rest of the elements.
Italian Air Force emblem: standard and reduced visibility
Presidential standard
The square flag of the Italian Republic is taken as the presidential standard. It is placed on a royal blue field and complemented by a golden coat of arms. The representative of the President in the international arena also has its own flag - it is a white canvas on a blue background with the state emblem in the center.
A separate flag was created in 2001 for the former presidents of the Republic. It is made in the style of the standard of the current head of state, slightly simplified and decorated with a presidential monogram.
Accidents and coincidences
The tricolor idea is not unique, and the Italian flag has a twin - the flag of Mexico. On the tricolor of the North American state there is a coat of arms on a white stripe, but the coat of arms is also on the Italian naval banner, and at a great distance or in conditions of poor visibility it is easy to confuse them. Moreover, when Italy became a republic, Mexican merchant ships sailed under a tricolor without a coat of arms, which made it impossible to make a tricolor flag without distinctive signs a national one, suitable for any occasion, as was done in France.
Nevertheless, these two flags have quite a lot of significant differences. Firstly, the Mexican standard is more elongated, its aspect ratio is 4: 7, while the Italian is noticeably "compressed", and its sides are in a ratio of 2: 3. In addition, the colors of the Mexican flag are more saturated, darker.
Because Since the Italian flag was created in the image and likeness of the French one, it is similar to many that have a similar origin. For example, the flag of Ireland is closer to the Italian flag in color, but instead of the red stripe there is an orange one, and the shape of the banner is even more elongated (aspect ratio 1: 2). And in the flag of Côte d'Ivoire, the colors are in reverse order (orange, white, green), but the aspect ratio corresponds to Italian.
Flags of Ireland and Cote d'Ivoire
Much less often, the flag of Italy is confused with the flag of Hungary, in which the stripes are arranged vertically and in reverse order. The colors of the Hungarian banner are closer in saturation to the Mexican, and the aspect ratio (1: 2) is closer to the Irish.
Tricolor in Italian art
The most famous piece of music in Italy dedicated to the national flag is the song dedicated to the Risorgimento, "Tricolor flag" ("La bandiera dei tre colori"). It was written several decades ago, but is still being studied in the elementary grades of Italian schools.
In 2007, the singer from Reggio Emilia Graziano Romani released the album Three Colors, inspired by the national flag and the fact that the tricolor was first officially recognized in his hometown. The songs in this compilation interpret the colors of the flag from a romantic point of view. In the text of the national anthem of Italy, written by the poet and patriot from Sardinia Goffredo Mameli, there is the line "Raccolgaci un'unica bandiera, una speme ..." ("One banner, in one hope ...").
Many poetic texts about the Italian flag were not set to music. A particularly large number of them fell on the middle of the 19th century and is dedicated to giving a specific meaning to flowers, from the location and application of additional symbolism. Giovanni Bersche denoted hope in green, joy in red, and brotherly love in white. Francesco Dall'Ongaro attributed the color of uniting faith to white, the joy of human hearts to red, and optimism to green. He later marked the main territories of the united Italy with three colors: the white Alps, two red volcanoes and the green plains of the Lombards. Arnaldo Fusinato compared the white stripe with the whiteness of the underwear shirt, the green one with the laurel wreath of victory, the red one with the blood of doomed tyrants. Domenico Carbonone called the national colors precious, identifying them with red ruby, white jasmine and green laurel leaves.
Giosué Carducci on the day of celebration of the centenary of the national tricolor so marked the meaning of its components: white - calmness and faith in the national idea, green - hope, goodness and youth, red - passion, blood of martyrs and heroes. The material world of Italy is embodied in the white color of the alpine snows, the spring greenery of the valleys and the red fire of volcanoes.
In his historical ode to strawberries, Giovanni Pascoli associated three national flowers: strawberries have bleached leaves, white flowers and red berries.
During a performance at San Remo earlier this year, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the unified Italy, comedian Roberto Benigni read an excerpt from The Divine Comedy, which describes a woman standing on the doorstep of Paradise, wearing three colors in her clothes: a green blouse, bright -red skirt and white veil. These are the colors of the three Christian virtues: green is faith, white is hope, red is love.