The flag of Tuscany is the de facto official flag of the region of Tuscany, Italy. The flag depicts a silver Pegasus rampant on a white field between two horizontal red bands. The flag first appeared as a gonfalon on 20 May 1975 along with accompanying text Regione Toscana above the Pegasus. It was officially de facto adopted as the flag of Tuscany on 3 February 1995.
History[]
The Pegasus image on the flag derives from a coin made by the Florentine artist Benvenuto Cellini in 1537. This coin was created by Cellini in order to honour Cardinal Pietro Bembo. Bembo was instrumental in the development of the Tuscan language as a literary medium and was honoured with the representation of Pegasus due to its symbolism and ties with creation. As a result, the Pegasus came to be associated as a symbol of the Tuscan region.
The usage of Pegasus by the Tuscan region endured and was adopted by the Tuscan Committee of National Liberation (CTLN) as a symbol of Italian resistance in Tuscany to the German occupation of Italy during the Second World War.
On 11 August 1975, the 26th anniversary of the liberation of Florence, the flag of the CTLN was symbolically handed over to the President of Tuscany, Lelio Lagorio by the mayor of Florence, Elio Gabbuggiani, in a ceremony at the Palazzo Vecchio.This demonstrated the symbolic adoption of the flag of Tuscany by the region. However, the flag was not officially recognised.
The flag was officially adopted in 1995 following President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro's call for the flag of each Italian region to be represented in the Quirinale Palace. The usage of the Pegasus was favoured by the Tuscan Regional Council over a depiction of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, as this was considered unsuitable to be reproduced simply.
The flag is often seen flying outside of Tuscan governmental buildings throughout the region. The seat of the Tuscan Regional Government, Palazzo Capponi-Covoni, is known as the Palazzo del Pegaso in reference to the flag. The flag also features on the sash used by the President of Tuscany to distinguish them from other members of the council
Flag redesigns[]
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