Italy

3×5' nylon national flag of Italy.

Italians call it simply il Tricolore. It was first adopted on 7 January 1797 by the Cispadane Republic, meeting in Reggio Emilia, and that date is still celebrated as Tricolour Day.

Design

Three equal vertical bands of green, white and red.

History & Symbolism

The flag was born in the Napoleonic era and modeled on the French tricolor, with green, the color of the Milanese civic guard, in place of blue. It became the banner of the Risorgimento, the movement for Italian unification, and of the Kingdom of Italy, which added the arms of the House of Savoy. The plain tricolor was adopted by the Republic in 1946 and written into the constitution of 1948. A popular reading gives green for the plains, white for the snow of the Alps, and red for the blood of the wars of independence.

Flag Specifications

• First adopted: 7 January 1797; Republic 1946
• Official proportions: 2:3
• Colors: green, white, red

Vexillographer's Note

Mexico's flag uses the same three colors in the same order, but with a coat of arms and different shades. Without the eagle, the two can be hard to tell apart.

Humphrys Flag Company · Old City Philadelphia · Est. 1864