war flag
image by Mario Fabretto, 14 November 1998
Last modified: 2021-08-24 by rob raeside
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war flag
image by Mario Fabretto, 14 November 1998
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The Italian flag didn't change when Mussolini rose to power.
However in 1943, after his liberation, Mussolini proclaimed in
Salo' the Italian Social Republic, limited to the northern Italy,
still under german occupation. The national flag was the plain
tricolore, while the war flag added to it a black (following
official descriptions) or dark silver (following reproduction)
eagle grasping a golden fasces.
Mario Fabretto, 14 November 1998
Since Italy technically remained a monarchy throughout the
war, and flag remained the current Tricolor with the arms of the
house of Savoy in the middle I think Mussolini's "Italian
Social Republic" (based around Saló in the far north once
Mussolini had been rescued by the Germans in 1943) also used the
tricolour but with fasces in the white stripe.
Roy Stilling, 9 April 1996 and Marcus Wendel, 13
August 1999
"The Republic of Saló" and the "Italian Social
Republic" are two ways of referring to the same Government;
the regime set up by the Germans after they freed Mussolini. The
official national flag of the Saló Republic was the plain
tri-color. The war flag was charged by a Roman eagle grasping
black fasces. The eagle was centered in the white band and
extended into the green and red stripes.
Norman M. Martin, Pier Paolo Lugli and Tom Gregg,
9 December 1997
You write that Your are not sure about the flag of the fascist
Italian republic RSI in Saló. I have found website with an image
(Warning 187 Kb) of the flag on the internet on a site which
specialize in RSI. . For a smaller version click here.
Jørgen Meedom, 29 July 1999
This is the War Flag, the State Flag was the plain tricolore.
Pier Paolo Lugli, 29 July 1999
The flag above is not the flag of the RSI, but the war flag of
the RSI. They are described in this law: Decreto
legislativo del Duce n. 141 del 28/1/1944:
Art. 1 La bandiera della Repubblica Sociale Italiana è formata
da un drappo di forma rettangolare interzato in palo di verde, di
bianco e di rosso, col verde all'asta sormontato dal Fascio
Repubblicano. Il drappo deve essere alto i due terzi della sua
lunghezza ed i tre colori vanno distribuiti nell'ordine anzidetto
ed in parti uguali.
Art. 2 La bandiera di combattimento delle Forze Armate è
caricata di un'aquila in nero ad ali spiegate poggiata su di un
Fascio Repubblicano posto in senso orizzontale, il tutto come da
tavola annessa al presente decreto. Il drappo deve essere alto un
metro e lungo metri 1,50.
From this description, the flag of the RSI was excatly like the
modern flag of Italy (the tricolore), but with republican fasces
on the flagstaff. I've the black and withe illustration of the
flag. The flag of my illustration is 5.8 cm tall, the small
fasces on the flagstaff is 1.15 cm tall and about 2 mm wide.
It's like the fasces held by the eagle of the war flag, with one
difference: there is only one cross made by the diagonal ribbons.
The small fasces on the flagstaff has a smaller axe than the axe
of held by the eagle (it's more or less 20% smaller than the axe
of the fasces held by the eagle of the war-flag).
There is a tiny mistake at the image the war flag of the RSI by
Mario Fabretto: The most right ribbon of the fasces held by the
eagle is like the other two, not wider (so it must be 1 pixel
wide, not 2 like in Fabretto's flag).
As I have already noted, some months ago I found an illustration
of the eagle of the RSI war flag. In the book where there is the
Decree of Mussolini about the flag there is the official
illustration of the flag, and also the war flag has the flagstaff
with the small fasces on top (but I've never seen a photo of a
flagstaff like that: of course both the state and the war flags
were used also without the "official" flagstaff).
Guido Abate, 20 November and 31 December 2002
At eBay
there is a photos of a flag
and its detail which are
titled as: "FLAG R.S.I."G.N.R." ITALY1943 -1945 (
CM.118 X CM.170) - ORIGINAL FASCIST PERIOD END WAR OR POST WAR
FOR VETERAN."
William Garrison, 24 November 2008
R.S.I is the Italian Social Republic. G.N.R
was the Republican National Guard (Guardia Nazionale
Repubblicana).
Quote from <www.feldgrau.com>:
"The Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana was formed as a
militarized police force, grouping the former Carabinieri
(military police), state police, Polizia Africa Italiana
(colonial police), frontier guards and blackshirts units, and was
later included in the Armed Forces of the RSI. The GNR was used
mainly in anti- partisan role, a role that was largely a
"dirty war" of reciprocal war crimes that do not give
credit to any one of the contendants."
And: "The prefix "M" to some units was an honour
title for elite units, allowed to wear a special collar-pin
reproducing the "M" of Mussolini's signature."
Decree of 18 Dec 1943 instituting the GNR (in Italian) at <web.tiscali.it>,
listing ranks (and their army equivalents) in Art. 5. There may
have been rank flags.
'M' emblem at <web.tiscali.it>.
More information at wikipedia.
Jan Mertens, 24 November 2008
