''Bandiera Rossa'' (Italian for "Red Flag"), often also called ''Avanti Popolo'' after its opening words (also to avoid any confusion with ''
The three flags'', another socialist song) is one of the most famous songs of the Italian labour movement. It glorifies the
red flag, symbol of the
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
and
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
movements. The text was written by Carlo Tuzzi in 1908; the melody is taken from two
Lombard folk songs.
Versions
Apart from the first Italian text, there are several variants which are identified with certain socialist or communist parties. The last two lines "''Evviva il comunismo e la libertà''" were put in the text after the rise of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...
; at the same time the original beginning "''Compagni avanti alla riscossa''" was changed to "''Avanti o popolo, alla riscossa''". Also, the word "''comunismo''" at the end of the chorus is often replaced with "''socialismo''", especially in more recent renderings of the song.
Influence on other works
Art music
''Bandiera Rossa'' was notably quoted in
Frederic Rzewski's piano works ''
The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'' (1975) is a piano composition by American composer Frederic Rzewski. ''The People United'' is a set of 36 variations on the Chilean song " ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!" by Sergio Ortega an ...
'' and ''
No Place to Go but Around''.
In popular culture
Notable covers of the song were made by the
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
n punk-rock band
Pankrti
Pankrti (The ''Bastards'' in Slovene) are a punk rock band from Ljubljana, Slovenia, active in the late 1970s and 1980s. They were known for provocative and political songs. They billed themselves as ''The First Punk Band Behind The Iron Curtai ...
in 1984 on the ''Rdeči album'' (Red album), as well as the Croatian punk-rock band
KUD Idijoti
KUD Idijoti was a punk rock band from Pula, Croatia. The name of the band translates to ''Cultural Artistic Society " Idiots"'' The word ''Idijoti'' is deliberately spelled wrong, the correct Croatian form of the word being ''idioti''. The pre ...
in 1990, on their album ''Mi smo ovdje samo zbog para'' (We are only here for the money). Scottish band, Tarneybackle released a version of the song as part of a medley of Spanish Civil War music. The song also appears on UK punk/oi! band Angelic Upstarts' 2002 album Sons of Sparticus.
The title of the 1986
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i film ''
Avanti Popolo'' is taken from the song. The film's protagonists – Israeli and Egyptian soldiers, particularly unheroic in their attitudes and actions, wander the Sinai Desert in the aftermath of the
1967 War. In one notable scene, the soldiers facetiously sing the song.
Excerpt from the text
This version translated for marxists.org by Clara Statello and Mitchell Abidor.
Foreign-language versions
One of the most widely known Italian songs, ''Bandiera Rossa'' has been rendered in several languages including: English, Croatian, Slovenian, German, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Turkish,
Kurdish,
Finnish,
Icelandic, Maltese, Russian,
Esperanto, and Filipino.
See also
* – another Italian partisan song
* – another song associated with the Italian partisans
* – another Italian partisan song
* - A Yiddish partisan song popularized during
WW2
References
Further reading
*
Political party songs
Italian songs
1908 songs
Socialist songs
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