Italy's National Flag Has Basically Remained the Same for More Than 200 Years
The flag of Italy, often referred to in Italian as "Il Tricolore", is a tricolor flag with three equally sized vertical stripes of green, white and red. The green stripe is always to be on the hoist side of the flag. Its current form was first used in 1946 and formally adopted in 1948 when Italy became a republic. At that time, the arms and crown from in the middle of the white section were removed to leave just a simple tricolor design of green, white and red on the flag. The tricolor was first used in Italy by the Cispandane Republic in 1797 after Napoleon's army crossed through Italy. The colors chosen were red and white from the flag of Milan and the green came from the color of the uniform of the Lombard Legion.
In an attempt to attribute particular values to the colors, a common interpretation is that the green signifies the vast plains and hills in the country; the white signifies the snow-capped Alps and the red is representative of the blood spilt during the Italian Independence Wars. A religious interpretation believes the colors represent the three theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Love (or Charity).
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Shop for Italian Flags at United-states-flag.com
Information and History of Italy Flags at Flags of the World Project
History and Description of Italian Flags at Widipedia.org
Italian Flags on Flags.net
Italy Flag Facts from the CIA Fact Book
Italian Flag Pictures
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