Last modified: 2008-08-02 by dov gutterman
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Official Flag
image by by Željko Heimer
See also:
The emblems of Savona are prescribed in the Municipal Statutes
("Statuto comunale") adopted by the Municipal Council
on 7 October 1991 and amended on 22 December 1993, 28 January
1994, 28 September 2001, 27 March 2007 and 17 April 2007:
"Section I. The Municipality of Savona
Article 4. Coat of arms and gonfalone of the municipality
1. The coat of arms of the Municipality of Savona shall be as
prescribed in Royal Decree on 12 November 1938.
2. The gonfalone of the Municipality of Savona, decorated with
the Gold Medal of the Resistance, shall be red with a white pale,
a golden fringe, in the center the civic coat of arms with the
lettering, in gold, centered, "cittą di Savona".
3. The flag of the Municipality of Savona shall be made of three
equal horizontal stripes, red, white and red.
4. The Municipal Syndicate or Council may decide to use to decide
the gonfalone with the coat of arms after having decided to
officialize theparticipation of the Municipality of Savona to a
ceremony or an other public event.
5. The administration may permit the use and reproduction of the
coat of arms of the municipality to non-institutional but of
public interest purposes."
Source: Municipal Statutes, in Italian, available on the
municipal
website - unofficial translation by Ivan Sache.
Ivan Sache, 29 June 2008
Francesco Murialdo claims that the flag became official on 6 May 1994, 30 days after publication in the Ligurian official gazette. The dates given above are the dates of adoption by the Municipal Council. Therefore, it is clear that the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 28 January 1994 and legally confirmed a few months later. According to F. Murialdo, red-white-red flags were already used in Savona from the middle 1800s to the middle 1900s, either with or without the coat of arms in the white stripe.
Vertically divided flag- XXth century
image by António Martins
In the second half of the XXth century, a flag vertically divided red-white-red was also used in Savona, stirring a local debate, which was solved in 1994 with the official adoption of the horizontally divided flag.
Flag with the coat of arms
image by Roberto Breschi from CISV (Vexilla Italica 1/1986)
Horizontal flags with the coat of arms have been reported by F. Murialdo (no date) as hoisted over the Town Hall during sessions of the Municipal Council and in front of the War Memorial. The municipal website indeed shows a photography of the flag with the coat of arms, while describing it without the coat of arms on the very same page!
vertically divided flag - mainly 13th to 15th centuries
image by Ivan Sache, after Francesco Murialdo
F. Murialdo reports that, earlier in the history, Savona
already used a vertically divided red-white-red flag. Savona was
granted the status of Free Town on 10 April 1191 when the Marquis
of Savona transferred his last rights to the Municipality. On 29
October 1528, Savona eventually surrendered to its more powerful
neighbour Genoa, but the independence of the town had already
been dramatically decreased by treaties imposed by Genoa and
potectorates ("signorie") imposed by Genoa, Milan and
France. The new rulers did not change the flag but added their
arms on towers and coins.
Several sources (frescoes, bas-reliefs, portolanos) from that
time, mostly form the XIII-XVth century, shows the flag of Savona
as vertically divided red-white-red, with a narrower white stripe
(as is the pale argent in the coat of arms).
Flag with "Chief of the Empire"
image by Ivan Sache, after Francesco Murialdo
The flag is sometimes represented with a "Chief of the Empire", that is a black eagle on a yellow field (similar to the chief of the coat of arms).
Flag similar to an Imperial standard
image by Francesco Murialdo
Iconographical sources from the same period show on the town's
fortifications (castlesand towers) a flag similar to an Imperial
standard, depicting only the black eagle on a yellow field. This
flag might have been use to emphasize the town's loyalty to the
Emperor. The eagle was also a pre-eminent element of the coins
minted in Savona. In the XVIth century, the four wards of the
town had each a gonfalone, portraying St. Peter, St. John, the
Blessed Virgin, and (probably) St. Andrew, respectively.
Sources (quoted by F. Murialdo):
- Les portulans - Cartes marines du XIIIe au XVIIe sičcle (in
English: The portolanos - Maritime charts from 13th to 17th
century), by Monique De La Roncičre and Michel Mollat
du Jourdin. Office du Livre: Fribourg (Switzerland), 1984.
- Un cartografo a Savona nel primo Quattrocento, by Corradino
Astengo. Sabazia (N.S.) 2: 6-8, 1987.
- Iconografia e documenti sulla bandiera di Savona (Iconography
and documents about the flag of Savona), by Francesco Murialdo.
Studi in omaggio a Carlo Russo nel suo settantacinquesimo
compleanno, 269-283, 1995.
- I vessilli degli antichi quartieri savonesi (The flags of the
ancient Savona's wards), by Carlo Varaldo, Sabazia 2, 15:16,
1982.
Ivan Sache, 29 June 2008
savon.gif)
image by Filippo Noceti, 8 June 2001
The coat of arms of Savona was granted by Royal
Decree on 12 November 1938 and published in the Register of the
Heraldic Council on 15 November 1938 and in the Heraldic Register
of Legal Entities (as #2052, p. 621, vol. II). "Di
rosso al palo d“argento e al capo abbassato d“oro, caricato di
aquila nascente ad ali spiegate. Capo del Littorio di rosso
(porpora) al fascio Littorio d“oro circondato da due rami di
quercia e d“alloro annodati da un nastro dai colori nazionali.
Lo scudo sarą di forma poligonale a testa di cavallo,
cartocciato. Corona marchionale." "Red a pale argent a
chief or charged with an eagle naissant with diplayed
wings. Fasces red (purple- and fasces or surrounded by two
branches of oak and laurel tied by a ribbon with the national
colours. The shield shall be of polygonal shape, like a horse'
head, with a cartouche. Marquis crown."
Source: Royal Decree, in Italian, available
on the municipal
website - unofficial translation by Ivan Sache
The wording of the original Decree does not seem to have been
changed, but the fasces have been dropped for evident reasons, as
shown on the image shown on the source page.
Ivan Sache, 29 June 2008
The gonfalone of Savona was granted by Royal Decree
on 12 November 1938 and published in the Register of the Heraldic
Council on 15 November 1938 and in the Heraldic Register of Legal
Entities (as #2052, p. 621, vol. II): "Gonfalone: Drappo
rosso al palo bianco, frangiato d“oro, caricato nel centro dello
stemma sopra descritto e con I“ iscrizione centrata in oro
"CITTĄ DI SAVONA"." "Gonfalone:
Red flag with a white pale, a golden fringe, charged in the
middle with the coat of arms described above and the golden
writing CITTĄ DI SAVONA"."
In contrast to the flag, the modified gonfalone is explicitely
described in the Municipal Statutes, which do not mention at all
the Royal Decree.
Source: Royal Decree, in Italian, available on the municipal
website - unofficial translation by Ivan Sache.
Ivan Sache, 29 June 2008