The day was established by law n. 671 of 31 December 1996 with the intention of celebrating the bicentenary of the birth in
Reggio nell'Emilia of the Italian flag, which officially took place, as already mentioned, on 7 January 1797 with the official adoption of the Tricolour by the Cispadana Republic, a
sister republic of the
French First Republic born the previous year. Previously, the Italian national colours had already appeared on the
tricolour cockades and on some military banners but on 7 January 1797, for the first time, the Tricolour was officially adopted by an Italian sovereign State. To suggest the adoption of a green, white and red flag was
Giuseppe Compagnoni, who for this reason is known as the "Father of the Tricolour". In the minutes of the meeting of 7 January 1797 which was convened by the founding committee of the
Cispadane Republic and which took place in a room of the town hall later renamed
Sala del Tricolore, it can be read: It was during this period that the green, white and red tricolour predominantly penetrated the collective imagination of the Italians, becoming an unequivocal
symbol of Italianness. In less than 20 years, the red, white and green flag had acquired its own peculiarity from a simple flag derived from the French one, becoming very famous and known. In the same year, after Napoleon had crowned himself as the first
French Emperor, the Italian Republic was transformed into the first
Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy (1805–1814), or
Italico, under his direct rule. The flag of the Kingdom of Italy was that of the Republic in rectangular form,
charged with the golden Napoleonic eagle. This remained in use until the fall of Napoleon in 1814. With the fall of Napoleon and the restoration of the
absolutist monarchical regimes, the Italian tricolour went underground, becoming the symbol of the patriotic ferments that began to spread in Italy and the symbol which united all the efforts of the Italian people towards freedom and independence. In the
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a state dependent on the
Austrian Empire born after the fall of Napoleon, those who exhibited the Italian tricolour were subject to the
death penalty. The Austrians' objective was in fact, quoting the textual words of Emperor
Franz Joseph I of Austria: "
[The tricolour was banned to] make people forget that they are Italian." After the Napoleonic era, the Tricolour became a symbol of the
Unification of Italy struggle. It was in fact adopted during the
revolutions of 1820, the
revolutions of 1830, the
revolutions of 1848, the
First Italian War of Independence, the
Second Italian War of Independence, the
Expedition of the Thousand and the
Third Italian War of Independence. With the
proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, the green, white and red flag became the national flag of a united Italy. The Tricolour had a universal, transversal meaning, shared by both
monarchists and
republicans,
progressives and
conservatives and
Guelphs as well as by the Ghibellines. The Tricolour was chosen as the flag of a united Italy also for this reason. On 13 June 1946, the
Italian Republic was officially founded. The Italian flag was modified with the decree of the president of the Council of Ministers No. 1 of 19 June 1946. Compared to the monarchic banner, the
Savoy coat of arms was eliminated. This decision was later confirmed in the session of 24 March 1947 by the
Constituent Assembly, which decreed the insertion of article 12 of the
Italian Constitution, subsequently ratified by the
Italian Parliament, which states: The members of the Constituent Assembly were deeply moved when they approved this article, and as a sign of joy and respect, stood up and applauded at length shortly after the approval. ==Celebrations==