Origins ic draft of 1847 by Goffredo Mameli of the first strophe and the refrain of "Il Canto degli Italiani" The text of "" was written by
Goffredo Mameli, a young Genoese patriot inspired by the
mass mobilizations that would lead to the
revolutions of 1848 and the
First Italian War of Independence. Sources differ on the precise date of the text's drafting: according to some scholars, Mameli wrote the text on 10 September 1847, while others date the composition's birth to two days prior—8 September. After discarding all extant music, on 10 November 1847 Mameli sent the text to
Turin and the Genoese composer
Michele Novaro, who lived at the time with the activist
Lorenzo Valerio. The poem captured Novaro and he decided to set it to music on 24 November 1847. Thirty years later, the patriot and poet
Anton Giulio Barrili recalled Novaro's description of the event thus: but was eliminated by Mameli before the official debut. It read: and used a first draft of "" that differs from the final version. As its author was infamously
Mazzinian, the piece was forbidden by the
Piedmontese police until March 1848. Its execution was also forbidden by the Austrian police, which also pursued its singing interpretation — considered a
political crime — until
their empire's dissolution. On 18 December 1847, the Pisan newspaper wrote how the song evoked public spirits: Two of Mameli's autographed manuscripts have survived to the 21st century: the first draft, with Mameli's hand annotations, at the ; and the letter, from Mameli on 10 November 1847, to Novaro, at the
Museo del Risorgimento in Turin. Novaro's autographed manuscript to the publisher is located in the Ricordi Historical Archive. The later Istituto Mazziniano sheet lacks the final strophe ("") for fear of censorship. These leaflets were to be distributed at the 10 December demonstration in Genoa. The hymn was also printed on leaflets in Genoa, by the printer
Casamara.
The following decades "" debuted with a few months left to the
revolutions of 1848. Shortly before the promulgation of the , the constitution that
Charles Albert of Sardinia conceded to the
Kingdom of Sardinia on 4 March 1848, political gatherings of more than ten people had become legal, and songs like "" could spread by
word of mouth. Patriots from the 10 December demonstration spread the hymn all over the
Italian peninsula. It became popular among the
Italian people and the ranks of the Republican volunteers. The hymn was commonly sung in most parts of Italy during demonstrations, protests and revolts as a symbol of the unification. The Savoyard authorities censored the fifth strophe The rebels sang "" during the
Five Days of Milan and at Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia's promulgation of the . Volunteers for the short-lived
Roman Republic sang it, and
Giuseppe Garibaldi hummed and whistled it during the defense of
Rome and the flight to
Venice.
Between the unification and World War I In the 1860, the corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi used to sing the hymn in the battles against the
Bourbons in Sicily and southern Italy during the
Expedition of the Thousand.
Giuseppe Verdi, in his ('Hymn of the Nations'), composed for the
London International Exhibition of 1862, chose "" to represent Italy, putting it beside "
God Save the Queen" and "". After the
proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the "
Royal March", composed in 1831, was chosen as the national anthem of unified Italy. "" had politically radical content, with its strong republican and Jacobin connotations, and did not combine well with the monarchical conclusion to the unification of Italy. Mameli's creed, was, however, more historical than political, and socialist and anarchist circles also regarded "" as too conservative. The song was one of the most common songs during the
Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. At the
Capture of Rome on 20 September 1870, the last step in Italian unification, choirs sang it together with "
La bella Gigogin" and the "Royal March"; and "" received
bersaglieri fanfare. After the end of the Italian unification, "" was taught in schools, and remained popular among Italians. However, other musical pieces connected to the political and social situation of the time, such as the "" ('Hymn of the Workers') or "
Goodbye to Lugano", addressed daily problems. These partly obscured the popularity of reunification hymns. "", thanks to references to patriotism and armed struggle, Cooperation with the fascist dictatorship was now egg on the monarchy's face; a song that recalled the
Italian victory in World War I could infuse courage and hope to the
Royal Italian Army troops who now fought against Mussolini's Social Republic and
Nazi Germany. "" resounded in
Southern Italy (freed by the
Allies) and in partisan-controlled areas to the north. "", in particular, had success in anti-fascist circles, where it joined partisan songs "" and "". Some scholars believe that the success of the piece in anti-fascist circles then was decisive for its choice as provisional anthem of the Italian Republic. Often, "" is wrongly referred to as the national anthem of the
Italian Social Republic. However, Mussolini's Republic had no official anthem, playing "" and "" equally often at the ceremonies. "" retained value to the fascists only for propaganda. Thus, Mameli's hymn was sung by both partisans and fascists. Facchinetti also declared that a draft decree would be proposed to confirm "" as the provisional national anthem of the newly formed Republic, but did not follow up on this promise. Instead, he proposed to formalize "" in the
Constitution of Italy, then being drafted. The Constitution, finished in 1948, determined the national flag, but did not establish a national anthem or emblem;
the latter was adopted by legislative decree on 5 May. A draft constitutional law prepared immediately afterwards sought to insert, after discussion of the national flag, the sentence "The Anthem of the Republic is the ''". This law stalled as well. "" nonetheless garnered success among the
Italian diaspora: "" scores are sold in
Little Italies across the
Anglosphere, and "" is often played on more or less official occasions in
North and
South America. In particular, it was the "soundtrack" of post-WWII fundraisers in the Americas for the Italian population left devastated by the conflict. Between 1999 and 2006, President of the Republic
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, began to revive "" as a national symbol of Italy. Ciampi declared that: In August 2016, a bill was submitted to the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the
Chamber of Deputies to make "" Italy's national anthem, and passed out of committee in July 2017. On 15 December 2017, on law nº 181 of 4 December 2017, was published after passing both houses of Parliament, and the law came into force on 30 December 2017.
Modern changes In 2025, President
Sergio Mattarella signed a decree clarifying that the final "" ('Yes!') at the end of the chorus is no longer to be sung during the Italian national anthem, as it did not appear in the original official text written by Mameli and instead was added by Novaro. ==Lyrics==