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Italy - Sport Flags

Last modified: 2023-07-22 by rob raeside
Keywords: italy | sport | football | soccer | cispadane republic | ferrari | formula one |
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Why Italian Sport Color is Light Blue ?

The (light) blue is the color of Savoia. It was used for the Previous President's flag (blue with the coat-of-arms of the Republic in gold).
Giuseppe Bottasini

That blue colour is the livery colour of the House of Savoy, and therefore for the Kings of Italy 1861-1946.
Elias Granqvist, 13 August 2001


Football Fan Flag

There is Italian flag which is like the Somali flag but with darker shade of blue. It is the Azzurro [sky blue] of the Italian sky with the white star representing Italy ("Lo Stellone"). It is probably taken from the Italian coat of arms but I am not sure about that.
Those flags are often seen on soccer stadiums and can also be charged with from one to many stars. All our sport teams wear shirts with the blue color and white colour on their shorts. We call our teams "Azzurri" because of it. On many newspapers, especially in relation with soccer championships, there are logos representing Italy, using  the Azzurro and white or even golden stars instead of the tricolor flag [but sometimes do including it].
Francesco Santangelo, 2 January 2007


Flag at European Cup of Football (Eurocup 2000)

image by Jose C. Alegria, 29 June 2000

I just finished watching the second semi-final in European cup of football, where Italy won on the penalty series (lucky "Azzurri"). The reason of this, is to show a flag I found interesting among the Italian crowd. It´s the national flag of Italy with 3 blue stars for the 3 world cups they hold.
Jose C. Alegria, 29 June 2000


Cispadane Republic Flag at Sydney 2000 Olympic Games

Today at the swimming pool I saw an Italian silver medalist holding a tricolore but with some kind of emblem on the white stripe. I try to take a look over and over but unfortunately the TV was concentrated on the winner so I couldn't see the emblem in its whole.
From what I could see it was a circle made of two branches of something (laurel?) and inside the circle a unclear device and the letters R and C. The emblem was all blue. My guess that it is some Italian sport emblem (swimming federation?).
Dov Gutterman, 17 November 2000

the flag saw by Dov Gutterman is the Cispadane Republic's flag adopted by Massimiliano Rosolino silver medalist as lucky charm.
Luca Secomandi, 24 September 2000


"Respect" Flag at Euro2008

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 July 2008

"RESPECT" flags distributed by UEFA to the supporters. Those "RESPECT" national flags have a vertical white stripe added along the hoist, charged with the emblem of the Championships and "RESPECT". The emblem can be seen in full colours on the Euro2008 official website.
Ivan Sache, 28 June 2008


Swimming Conditions Flags

Here is the Italian system for swimming conditions:

image by Ivan Sache, 29 January 2004

A red flag means that swimming is dangerous and unadvised.

image by Ivan Sache, 29 January 2004

A red flag over a yellow flag mean that watching has stopped (from 18:30 to 9:30 the next day).

image by Ivan Sache, 29 January 2004

A yellow flag means that watching is limited (from 13:30 to 15:30).

My source; the website of an Italian sea resort <www.balnearilido.it>, does not mention a green flag which would, logically, be used to signal non-dangerous and watched swimming conditions.
Ivan Sache, 29 January 2004

This page was set up by the beach management of Lido di Camaiore, in Camaiore, in Lucca province, which doesn't mean that the system described is used only in the beaches of this commune.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 11 September 2007


According to <www.salvamento.info> all flags are rectangular:
- White: "saving service in action".
- Yellow: "danger because of the wind; it's dangerous to keep sunshades opened or to use or play with inflatable devices".
- Red: "it's dangerous to go for a bath because of bad meteorological conditions; it's dangerous to use vessels or inflatable dinghies; it's forbidden to borrow pedal-boats, boards or anything similar".
- Checkered blue and white: "No lifesaving service (usually from 13.00 to 14.30)".
Jan Mertens, 4 December 2006

This website includes in Italian much more information than is does for English or German: It additionally says that the yellow flag is rarely used and that the red flag is used when it rains or when the sea is choppy, or both. This therefore is not a hierarchical system of increasing danger.  
A chequered flag is hoisted to indicate that the lifeguard not on duty (lunch time), probably similar to Portuguese use.
This page quotes for its flag information the regulation for beach safety issued by the Emilia-Romagna regional government (along with some ironical comments about the publics' perception of beach flags!), but, again, that doesn't mean that the system described is used only in the beaches of this region.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 11 September 2007

The WTO 2001 big book on tourism signage [Lqr01] quotes an IFTO survey (40-42) stating that Italy uses "no flag for safety, yellow for caution, red for danger", which matches neither of the above (except for the colors). The same book, however, lists only a red flag for danger, and none other, as an "WTO survey" (also p. 40- 42).
António Martins-Tuválkin, 11 September 2007