Giro d'Italia 2017

The heraldry of Italy
User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 15 May 2017, 08:52

Monday is a rest day for the Giro, and the teams leave the region of Molise for that of Umbria.

Molise:

Image

Scudo rosso, bordato d'argento e con banda diagonale dello stesso colore. In alto a sinistra una stella d'argento con punte analoga a quella della riproduzione dell'Arme della Provincia di Molise contenuta in un frontespizio tratto dall'opera "il Regno di Napoli diviso in dodici Province" di Enrico Rocco Alemanno (Napoli, 1608).


So the whole shield is fimbriated argent and the star is described most eccentrically. Moreover the bend sinister is simply described as a "banda diagonale", which can only be confirmed as sinister by reference to the position of the star.

Umbria:

Currently does not have a coat of arms, but a logo:

Image

The three red elements are said to represent the "Ceri" (wooden towers), paraded in Gubbio each 15 May at the feast of St.Ubaldo.

Strangely the arms of Gubbio itself do not feature the "Ceri"

Image

I have no idea why the chief suggests a French link. None of the various rulers of the area (Gabrielli, Montefeltro, della Rovere, Papal States) had French connections.
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 16 May 2017, 08:18

The Giro has now come to the middle of Italy. Today (Tuesday) the riders depart from Foligno:

Image

Blazon: Semitroncato-partito: nel primo d’argento alla croce potenziata e scorciata di rosso; nel secondo di rosso, nel terzo di rosso al giglio d’oro. Lo scudo è sormontato da corona marchionale.


The blazon seems to be drafted in such a way that the line of partition is necessary, as (what Anglo-Saxons would describe as) Q3 is described separately, rather than simply as a part of the field.

En route the Giro passes through the village of Bastardo, which does not boast a coat of arms, but if it did the blazon would surely include a bordure wavy or compony, or perhaps a baton sinister.

I had already guessed the arms of the town that hosts the finishing line before I started my search. Of course I could not have foreseen that the herald chose to break the tincture "rule" with the tremount:

Image

The town is of course Montefalco.
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
JMcMillan
Posts: 613
Joined: 13 Jul 2012, 22:33
Location: United States

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby JMcMillan » 16 May 2017, 18:16

Chris Green wrote:Image

I have no idea why the chief suggests a French link. None of the various rulers of the area (Gabrielli, Montefeltro, della Rovere, Papal States) had French connections.


This is the capo d'Angiò,, or chief of Anjou, used in Italian arms to indicate allegiance to the Guelph, or papal, side in the great Guelph-Ghibelline conflict of the Middle Ages. The Gabrielli lords of Gubbio were Guelph supporters.

(The capo dell' impero, the imperial black eagle on a gold field, is the counterpart showing Ghibelline/imperial loyalties.)
Joseph McMillan
Alexandra, Virginia, USA

User avatar
Arthur Radburn
Posts: 1331
Joined: 11 Jul 2012, 09:56

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Arthur Radburn » 16 May 2017, 18:45

Chris Green wrote:Image

Blazon: Semitroncato-partito: nel primo d’argento alla croce potenziata e scorciata di rosso; nel secondo di rosso, nel terzo di rosso al giglio d’oro. Lo scudo è sormontato da corona marchionale.


The blazon seems to be drafted in such a way that the line of partition is necessary, as (what Anglo-Saxons would describe as) Q3 is described separately, rather than simply as a part of the field.
"Semitroncato-partito" means "per pale, the dexter per fess". Not to be confused with "partito-semitroncato", which means "per pale, the sinister per fess".

In English, it would be clearer to blazon the arms as "Per pale; dexter per fess Argent and Gules, in chief a cross formy of the second; sinister Gules a fleur de lis florencee Or". Apparently they were originally two separate coats.
Regards
Arthur Radburn

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 17 May 2017, 06:44

"Semitroncato-partito" means "per pale, the dexter per fess". Not to be confused with "partito-semitroncato", which means "per pale, the sinister per fess".


So does that mean that if the same tincture is used (as here) the line of partition must be shown? Or is that perhaps to indicate that two coats of arms have been marshalled together?
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 17 May 2017, 06:59

Wednesday's stage starts from Florence (Firenze) whose arms are well known:

Image

The finishing line is at Bagno di Romagna, whose arms, or variations of them, recur with tedious repitition throughout Italy (and beyond):

Image

The town has an interesting history, being once under the patronage of the Guidi di Bagno family whose arms were:

Image

Even more boring one may say, but incorporating elements into the arms of the town would at least lend some historical interest.
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
Arthur Radburn
Posts: 1331
Joined: 11 Jul 2012, 09:56

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Arthur Radburn » 17 May 2017, 10:42

Chris Green wrote:
"Semitroncato-partito" means "per pale, the dexter per fess". Not to be confused with "partito-semitroncato", which means "per pale, the sinister per fess".
So does that mean that if the same tincture is used (as here) the line of partition must be shown? Or is that perhaps to indicate that two coats of arms have been marshalled together?
I would say that the line of partition must be shown, as it would be with any other partition of the shield, e.g. quarterly. It's coincidental that the same colour appears on both sides of the line.

In this case, if the line were omitted, the arms might be taken to be "Gules, on a canton Argent a cross formy of the field and to sinister a fleur de lis florencee Or."
Regards
Arthur Radburn

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 18 May 2017, 08:12

Today (Thursday) the stage is between Forli and Reggio Emilia, via Barberini di Mugello, Sasso Marconi and Modena.

Forli:

Image

Blazon: D'oro, all'aquila dal volo spiegato di nero, coronata e membrata del campo, tenente nell'artiglio destro uno scudetto ovale di rosso, alla croce d'argento, posto in banda, e con il sinistro, uno scudetto pure ovale, posta in sbarra, d'argento alla fascia dello stesso bordata, con il motto "Libertas", il tutto di nero.


The arms at first glance suggest a love of rugby football, but in fact convey two political messages. Mr McM's explanation of the Guelph/Ghibbeline rivalry suggests that Forli was once an imperial supporter and indeed the original arms were granted by Emperor Frederick II for the town's assistance in the capture of neighbouring Faenza, and Forli was the last bastion of support in Italy for the Hohenstaufens. The dexter "rugby ball" denotes Savoy and the sinister the love of liberty, both indicating the town's support for "risorgimento" and Garibaldi.

Reggio Emilia:

Image

"SPQR" here standing for "Senatus Populusque Regianorum".

Barberino di Mugello:

Image

Not hard to spot the link between the town's name and its arms.

Sasso Marconi:

Image

Blazon: Campo di cielo, alla montagna tondeggiante, al naturale, fondata in punta e uscente dai fianchi, erbosa di verde a sinistra, essa montagna sormontata dalla cometa d’oro, con la coda ondeggiante all’ingiù; al capo d’azzurro, sostenuto dal filetto d’oro, caricato dal lambello di quattro gocce, di rosso, alternate da tre gigli, d’oro. Ornamenti esteriori di città.


Not surprisingly the principal geological feature of Sasso Marconi is its rocky outcrop. I have yet to discover the significance of the comet. The chief, as we now know indicates a former allegiance to the Guelphs.

Perhaps, like me, you thought that the name "Marconi" had no connection with Guglielmo Marconi (Marchese di Marconi), or perhaps that he came from the town. Not so. He was in fact born in nearby Bologna and the town is named after him.

Modena

See previous comments from the 2016 Giro: http://amateurheralds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1091&start=20
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

User avatar
JMcMillan
Posts: 613
Joined: 13 Jul 2012, 22:33
Location: United States

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby JMcMillan » 18 May 2017, 15:39

Chris Green wrote:Barberino di Mugello:

Image

Not hard to spot the link between the town's name and its arms.



Not hard at all: it's Vinnie Barberino, although depicted a little anachronistically as he later appeared in "Urban Cowboy"!

Image

(And apologies to those who are too young or were too unexposed to American television of the 1970s to get the cultural reference.)
Joseph McMillan
Alexandra, Virginia, USA

User avatar
Chris Green
Posts: 3621
Joined: 10 Jul 2012, 13:06
Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: Giro d'Italia 2017

Postby Chris Green » 19 May 2017, 07:07

Today (Friday) the Giro eschews mountains and instead wends its way upstream through the valley of the River Po. Starting where they left off yesterday at Reggio Emilia the cyclists pass Parma, Fidenza, Fiorenzuola d'Arda, and Piacenza, before finishing at Tortona in Piedmont.

Parma:

Image

Blazon: D'oro alla croce piana d'azzurro, patente sulle punte.


Perhaps someone could tell us what the cross is called in English. "Patente" usually translates as "patent", but that isn't what is meant here. "Patonce" it ain't.

Fidenza:

Image

Blazon: Partito: nel 1° d'oro all'aquila imperiale dimezzata movente dalla partizione; nel 2° di rosso alla croce d'argento dimezzata del braccio destro.


The city fathers were obviously keen to underline the town's former allegiance to the Ghibelline cause and its later support for the House of Savoy.

Fiorenzuola d'Arda:

Image

Blazon: Di rosso a tre rose d’argento, disposte 2, 1.


No political statements here. The Roman name for this town was "Florentiola" (little flowering place), so why not three white roses?

Piacenza:

Image

Blazon: Partito al primo di rosso al dado d'argento; al secondo d'argento alla lupa d'azzurro, lampassata di rosso, passante.


The arms seem to have no connection with Guelphs/Ghibellines, or with the two principal families associated with the city: Pallavicini and Visconti.

Tortona:

Image

Blazon: Di rosso al un leone d’argento linguato ed armato, tenente con le zampe anteriori una rosa fogliata e fiorita d’argento. Sormontato da una corona marchionale.


The motto "Pro Tribus Donis Similis Terdona Leonis" (Tortona is similar to the lion in having three gifts). The gifts are variously described as: virtue, loyalty, courtesy, or in earlier times that 1) the area was possessed of a miraculous stone that gave oil, 2) a miraculous fountain that sprang from the ground only at the feast of St John the Baptist, and 3) a mythical event when three soldiers were said to have chopped down a bridge to save the town and the structure spouted blood.
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert


Return to “Italian Heraldry”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests