
Italy's Tricolore...
Any idea what the colors red, white, and green on the Italian flag represent?
The answer might be in Dante's Divine Comedy. Dante wrote that there are
three cardinal virtues: hope, faith, and charity. Green symbolizes hope,
white symbolizes faith, and red symbolizes charity.
How do the colors appear on the flag? The green is next to the pole, the
white is the middle section, and the red is at the end, a design inspired by the
French Revolution. The king's coat of arms was added to the white section
when Italy was united, but when Italy became a republic, the Savoy coat of arms
was removed.
The national tricolor is honored at all public events. When displayed with
other flags it occupies the place of honor, that is at the highest point or to
the right. And like the United States' red, white, and blue,
the flag is raised at dawn, lowered at sunset, and flown at half mast in times
of mourning.
Burn or deface the Italian flag? Never! Italian law provides for
punishment of one to three years in prison.
Information found in the newspaper "La Gazzetta Italiana"
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