Re: Giro d'Italia 2021
Posted: 20 May 2021, 09:53
Thursday's stage sets out from Siena, whose arms, known as the "balzana", date back to the 13th century, so old indeed that the reason for the design is the stuff of legend. It is said that the two sons of Remus, who had been killed by Romulus, fled from Rome on a black and a white horse, hence the colours of the shield. Hmm.
The route heads due North, passing to the East of Florence (Firenze), whose arms feature the well-known Florentine lily, not to be confused with the fleur-de-lis. The blazon specifies an egg-shaped shield, though I have come across many examples of other shapes.
These arms are the Guelph version, post-1251. Until the Ghibellines were driven out the tinctures were the opposite: red field, white lily.
North of the old city of Florence, but still within its modern metropolitan boundaries, the riders pass through Sesto Fiorentino, whose arms are canting:
The finish is at Bagno di Romagna, as it was for a stage of the 2017 Giro. I said then, and I find no reason now to correct myself: " whose arms, or variations of them, recur with tedious repetition throughout Italy (and beyond)".
It is amazing that the herald was prepared to go to such lengths to specify the details of the castle, but, when all was said and done, it was still just another castle.
The route heads due North, passing to the East of Florence (Firenze), whose arms feature the well-known Florentine lily, not to be confused with the fleur-de-lis. The blazon specifies an egg-shaped shield, though I have come across many examples of other shapes.
Blazon: Scudo ovato d’argento, al giglio aperto e bottonato di rosso.
These arms are the Guelph version, post-1251. Until the Ghibellines were driven out the tinctures were the opposite: red field, white lily.
North of the old city of Florence, but still within its modern metropolitan boundaries, the riders pass through Sesto Fiorentino, whose arms are canting:
Blazon: Partito di rosso e d’azzurro al compasso (sesto) d’oro con le punte rivolte in basso, posto sulla partitura.
The finish is at Bagno di Romagna, as it was for a stage of the 2017 Giro. I said then, and I find no reason now to correct myself: " whose arms, or variations of them, recur with tedious repetition throughout Italy (and beyond)".
Blazon: D'argento, alla torre di due palchi, di rosso, mattonata di nero, merlata alla guelfa, il palco inferiore di cinque, quello superiore di quattro, il palco inferiore chiuso di nero, quello superiore finestrato di uno, dello stesso, essa torre fondata sulla pianura convessa, di verde.
It is amazing that the herald was prepared to go to such lengths to specify the details of the castle, but, when all was said and done, it was still just another castle.