National emblem of Italy

The current emblem of Italy, official since 1948, the initial design was made by Paolo Paschetto, winner of the public competition held between 1946 and 1947 to choose a new shield or emblem to replace the old ones real weapons, since the Italian Republic had been proclaimed two years before.

This emblem was approved by the Constituent Assembly of the Italian Republic on January 31, 1948 and promulgated by President Enrico De Nicola on May 5 of that year, through legislative decree number 535.

It is composed of a white five-pointed star with a red border, the Stella d'Italia (Star of Italy), the oldest symbol of identity of Italy. The star is located located on a cogwheel that symbolizes work and progress. The whole is surrounded by a crown formed by an olive branch (on the left) in allusion to the nation's will for peace and an oak branch (on the right) as a representation of the strength and dignity of the Italian people. The two branches are joined by a red ribbon with the name repvbblica Italiana (‘Italian Republic’) written in white letters.

Although it fulfills the same representative functions as a heraldic shield, it is an emblem, since it does not follow the heraldic rules.

Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy

The Kingdom of Italy was a puppet state of France founded in northern Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French in 1805. It had a peculiar coat of arms, formed by the arms of the House of Bonaparte augmented by charges of several Italian regions. When Napoleon abdicated the thrones of France and Italy in 1814, the old monarchies were gradually reestablished and, following the Treaty of Paris of 1815, the Austrian Empire annexed the rump. The shield of Napoleonic Italy consisted of a shield cut and plywood, which included the shields of some territories that were integrated into the Kingdom of Italy, established by Napoleon in 1805:

• In the first barracks, by the Pontifical StatesThe Canopy and the keys of Saint Peter.
• In the second, by Venice, the Lion, symbol of San Marcos, modified as it appears represented by carrying a frigid hat.
• In the third, by ModenaA white eagle that was a symbol of the House of East.
• In the room, by Piedmont, a cross of silver (white color) in a field of gules (red background) differentiated with a lambel of three earrings azur and loaded with a tower of silver which represents Rovigo and Feltre.
• Thief on the stick (in the center), by the Duchy of Milanthe figure of Biscione (in Spanish): Great CulebrationDevouring a person.
• Above all, in scuson, the Crown of Italy (888-1024), located in a field of gold with an embroidery de gules.

The shield itself was surrounded by the collar of the Legion of Honor and has an eagle in its color and two halberds. Above the figure of the eagle you could see the Star of Italy, a five-pointed star, loaded with the capital letter "N" which is Napoleon's initial. This set was placed under the mantle of the new kingdom, topped with the heraldic crown of the Kingdom of Italy under Napoleonic rule.

Kingdom of Italy

Between 1848 and 1861, a sequence of events led to the independence and unification of Italy (except Venice, Rome, Trento and Trieste, which were united with the rest of Italy in 1866, 1870 and 1918 respectively); This period of Italian history is known as the Risorgimento (resurgence). During this period, the green, white and red tricolor became the symbol that united all the efforts of the Italian people towards freedom and independence.

The Italian tricolor, defaced with the coat of arms of the House of Savoy, was first adopted as a war flag by the army of the Regno di Sardegna-Piemonte (Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont) in 1848. In its Proclamation to the Lombard-Venetian people, Charles Albert said "... to show more clearly with external signs the commitment to Italian unification, we want our troops (...) to have the Savoy shield placed on the Italian tricolor flag" #34;. As the arms mixed with the white of the flag, fimbriated azure was seen, blue being the dynastic color. On April 15, 1861, when the Regno delle Due Sicilie (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) It was incorporated into the Regno d'Italia, after the defeat in the Expedition of the Thousand led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, this flag and the coats of arms of Sardinia were declared the symbols of the newly formed kingdom.

On May 4, 1870, 9 years later, the Araldica Consulta issued a decree on the arms, as with the Sardinian arms, two lions rampant in gold holding the shield, carrying instead only the Savoy cross (as in the flag) which now represents all of Italy, with a crowned helmet, around which, the collars of the Military Order of Savoy, the Civil Order of Savoy, the Order of the Crown of Italy (established February 2, 1868), the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, and the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (with the motto FERT) were suspended. The lions held spears with the national flag. A royal mantle fell from the helmet, wrapped by a pavilion under the Stellone d'Italia (Star of Italy), which was intended to protect the nation.

After 20 years, on January 1, 1890, the exterior of the arms was modified slightly more in line with those of Sardinia. The fur cloak and spears disappeared and the crown was carried from the helmet to the pavilion, now sewn with crosses and roses. The Iron Crown of Lombardy was placed on the helmet, under the traditional Savoy shield (a winged lion's head), which, together with the Savoy banner of the ancient Sardinian arms, replaced the star of Italy. These weapons They remained in official use for 56 years until the birth of the Italian Republic and continue today as the dynastic arms of the head of the House of Savoy.

On April 11, 1929, the Savoy lions were replaced by Mussolini with fasces of the National Fascist Party's shield. However, after his dismissal and arrest on July 25, 1943, the previous version was briefly restored until the emblem of the new Italian Republic was adopted, after the institutional referendum on the form of the State, held on June 2, 1946. celebrated in Italy as Festa della Repubblica.

Italian Social Republic

The arms of Nazi Germany's short-lived puppet state in northern Italy, the Italian Social Republic or Republic of Saló, as it was commonly known, were those of the ruling Fascist Republican Party, a silver eagle holding a banner of the inverted tricolor on a shield loaded with fasces. Italian fascism derives its name from the fasces, which symbolizes authority and/or "strength through unity". The fasces have been used to display the imperium (power) of the Roman Empire, and were therefore considered an appropriate heraldic symbol. Furthermore, the eagle was the same as the Aquila carried by the Roman legions, therefore it had a military meaning.

This shield had previously been displayed alongside the royal arms from 1927 to 1929, when the latter was modified to incorporate elements of both.

On April 25, 1945, commemorated as Festa della Liberazione (in Spanish: Liberation Day), the government of Benito Mussolini fell.. The Italian Social Republic had existed for just over a year and a half. After the end of the fascist regime, the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy was adopted again, until 1948, when a new emblem was created for the newly created Italian Republic.

Gallery

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  Shield of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy

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  First version of the shield of the Kingdom of Italy

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  Second version of the shield of the Kingdom of Italy

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  Shield version of the Kingdom of Italy imposed by the fascist regime