Italian Merchant Flag - Civil Ensign.
This is the Italian flag defaced with the arms of the four so-called "Sea Republics," which are, by tradition: Venice, with the winged lion of St. Mark's; Genoa, with a red cross on white; Amalfi, bearing a white Maltese cross on blue; and Pisa, with a Pisan cross with keys (or paws) and three spheres on every arm. Adopted in 1947, the Italian merchant flag is used on Italian pleasure craft and merchant vessels.
The Italian colors ascribe their genesis to the Napoleonic Wars, but the vertical orientation of the stripes is inspired by the tricolor of France when the Cisalpine Republic adopted the flag in 1798. The Kingdom of Italy continued to use the red, white and green tricolor of the 1848 Kingdom of Sardinia.
This flag was created after World War II, when the crown and shield were removed from the Italian flag. Unfortunately for the Italians, their unadorned tricolor, which was fine for use on land, was identical to the merchant flag of Mexico. To avoid confusion on the high seas, the Sea Republics shield was created and added to the Italian flag for use at sea. The discrepancy was resolved in 1968, when Mexico adopted the flag with the eagle and serpent leading up to the Mexico City Olympic Games.
This flag is an exception in the Zaricor Flag Collection in that it is new.
Provenance: Gifted to the Zaricor Flag Collection by Piero Milani.
ZFC Collectible Flag
Sources:
Italy, Flags of the World, 9 May 2012, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/it.html
Flag of Italy, Wikipedia, 9 Amy 21102, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Italy
Mexico - Maritime Flags, Flags of the World, 9 May 2012, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/mx~mar.html#civilensign
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
