The Italian flag, il tricolore, national flag of italy, italian flags, history of the italian flag, origins, designs, regional flags of italy, italian gonfalone, flags italian regions

The Italian flag, il Tricolore, has been in use in its current form since the formation of the Republic in 1946. It was formally adopted a little while later, in 1948. It is made up of three equal bands: green, white and red, with the green band on the hoist side. The first version of the flag was created in 1797 by the Cispadane Republic, following Napoleon's successful campaign in Italy, and inspired by the French flag, created in 1790.

This original flag was based on the red and white of the flag of Milan, together with the green of the uniforms worn by the Milanese civic guards. Since then however, other interpretations of these colours have emerged. The green representing the countryside, the white representing the mountains, and the red representing the blood spilt during the unification of Italy. Another, more religious, interpretation claims that the green represents hope, the white represents faith and the red represents charity.

Flag proportion: 2 : 3

Colour references: