in 2016, wearing the
scudetto won with
Juventus the season prior. Also present in the image on the left is the
coccarda tricolore, worn by the current holders of the
Coppa Italia. Sources generally agree that Italian poet and playwright
Gabriele D'Annunzio was the inventor of the
scudetto. In his youth, D'Annunzio was an avid football enthusiast. In 1887, he bought a leather football in
London from the same manufacturer that supplied the
Football League, and he would play often with his friends on the beaches of his hometown,
Pescara. In 1924, the
Italian Football Federation approved the decision to honour the defending champions allowing them to wear the
scudetto on their jerseys. The Italian
rugby union championship which started in 1928 became the second league to adopt the
scudetto on a team's jersey to indicate a title-holding team. Since then, the
scudetto has become the symbol of the defending champions of every sports league in Italy. Between 1936 and 1943, the tricolour scudetto was awarded to the
Coppa Italia winner; the Serie A champion was awarded a
Savoyard scudetto. Other countries including
Portugal and
Turkey also have their reigning champions wear a national symbol on their chests. == See also ==