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Italian Flag
When, in 1794 the French Army led by Napoleon Bonaparte entered Italy, both the new republic (Repubblica Transpadana, Transpadane Republic) and the military group attached to French army adopted flags similar to the Italian tricolor. Probably, the colors have been chosen according to Legione Lombarda flag: it summed Milan city colors (red and white) to the green of Milan Civic Guard uniforms. The same colors were adopted by the Legione Italiana, formed by soldiers coming from Emilia and Romagna.
The first Italian tricolor was adopted on 7 January 1797, in Reggio Emilia, as official flag of the Repubblica Cispadana (Cispadane Republic). It was a horizontal tricolor, with red (top), white and green stripes; in the middle, an emblem composed by a quiver, accolade to a war trophy, with four arrows that symbolized the four provinces forming the Po federation; all within a crown of bay.
The Repubblica Cispadana and the Repubblica Transpadana merged into the Repubblica Cisalpina (Cisalpine Republic), which adopted the vertical Italian tricolor without emblem in 1798, even if in a square shape. The flag was maintained until 1802, after the republic was renamed Repubblica Italiana (Italian Republic); in 1802 a new square flag was adopted, with a red field carrying a white rhombus and a green square in the middle of the white rhombus.
In 1799, the Republic of Lucca came under French influence, and adopted as flag a green-white-red horizontal tricolor, up to 1801.
In 1805, after Napoleon had crowned himself French Emperor, the Repubblica Italiana was transformed into the Regno d'Italia (Kingdom of Italy), ruled by Napoleon himself; the flag of the Regno d'Italia was the Repubblica Italiana flag in rectangular shape, with Napoleon's eagle on the central white square. This flag was in use until the abdication of Napoleon in 1814.
The Italian tricolor was first established during the Napoleonic Wars by French republics in northern Italy , who styled it after the French tricolor. In 1848 the design was adopted by the house of Savoy, which went on to lead the Italian unification. The present flag was adopted in 1946, when Italy became a republic and the royal arms were removed.
I don't know of any authoritative and indisputable explanation regarding the meaning of the colors of the Italian flag . The most credible theory suggests that the colors came from the colors of the uniforms of the Civic militia of Milan which were predominantly green with some white. Some red parts were added in 1796 when the Militia became the National Guard. In October of that year, the Lombard Legion was constituted, which adopted a uniform with the same color combination. Orders issued October 9 stated that"each Cohort will have its National tricolor Lombard standard, differentiated by number, and ornate with the emblems of Liberty".
Napoleon himself described the colors in his message to the "Direttorio" (directorate) dated October 11, 1796 in reference to the constitution of the Lombard Legion
"... the national colors to adopt are the green, the white and the red"
The original standard had the colors displayed vertically with the green at the hoist, representing the very first (known) model of the Italian "Tricolore", although it was only known at the time as a military flag.
The first true (displayed) national flag in which the colors were applied horizontally is the Cispadane Republic flag. This flag was adopted on January 7, 1797 and had the red at the top, the white in the middle, charged with the coat of arms, and the green at the bottom.
On July 17, 1797 the Cispadane and the Transpadane Republics were united into the Cisalpine Republic, which adopted the Tricolore, known today as the official Italian flag.
It is for that reason that the official version generally claims that the Italian flag is modeled after the French Tricolore.
In 1802 the Cisalpine Republic became the Italian Republic and on August 20, 1802 a new flag was adopted. The new design was modeled after the Napoleonic military flags: on a red field a white lozenge under a green rectangle. On March 1805 the republic became a kingdom at which time a golden Napoleonic eagle was added on the flag's green field. The Tricolore, charged with the Savoy shield in the center, became the national flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1848 and of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The State flag and the war ensign also included the Savoy crown.
Finally, on June 19, 1946, the plain Tricolore became the official flag of the Italian Republic. In order to avoid confusion with the Mexican flag at sea, two different coat of arms were added by decree of November 9, 1947, one to the civil and one to the war ensigns.
The Pantone Colors
The official colors were established finally on January 17th 2003 and are expressed in Pantone colors : Green (brilliant grass) 18-5642TC, White (milk) 11-4201TC, Red (tomato) 18-1661TC.
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