^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Italy - Coat of Arms

by Luca Secomandi, 25 September 2000
Coat of Arms adopted 5 May 1948

Coat of Arms

See also:

Other sites:

Heraldry in Italy
History of the Italian Coat of Arms (in Italian)

Coat of Arms

Italy's current arms date back to 1948 and would be better known as an emblem, considering the poor heraldic pattern. The main feature is a white, red bordered star. This comes from the previous kingdom's arms, even if it was upside down there, i.e. with a tip pointing downwards. That meant, and means, Italy as a united state. It was known, during the kingdom, as the "big star of Italy". Now it is superimposed on a gear, this last standing for work, the Italian constitution stating that Italy is a country based on [common] work. Supportes are an olive branch, symbol of peace, and an oak branch, symbol of strength. The red ribbon reports the official name of the state in white capital characters. Simple, but effective. A few years ago there was a national campaign to change the emblem and set up a more proper coat of arms: the projects were so poor that eventually the decision was to go on with the current symbol...
Pier Paolo Lugli, 4 December 1997

In the arms of Italy , olive stands for the south part of the countries, while an oak branch stands for the north part .
Antonio Martins, 24 June 2000

Here you can find some proposals of the first Republican Italian Coat of Arms/emblem with the project which was eventually chosen: <www.quirinale.it>.
On the latest series of Italian banknotes (before the arrival of t