Flag of Italy Information

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.

On of the theories behind the meaning of the colors of the Italian flag 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.

The first true national flag that used the colors horizontally displayed is the Cispadana Republic flag. This flag was adopted on 7 January 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 17 July 1797 the Cispadana and the Transpadana republics were united as the Cisalpine republic which, on 11 May 1798, officially adopted the Tricolore which is today the italian flag.