The flag of

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

is one of the official symbols of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Like many Italian regional flags, it was adopted on 4 November 1995 for Armed Forces Day of Italy ( it). In absence of a law on the subject, the regional emblem that had been adopted on 15 March 1980 was simply inserted on a white background.

Symbolism

The emblem of Marche bears a stylized

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions ...

, overlapping a black shape to form a capital letter M, against a green-bordered shield with a white field. The flag was designed by Maurizio Catani and Gianni Veroli. The woodpecker was the tribal

totem A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or '' doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While ''the ...

of the

Picentes The name Picentes or Picentini refers to the population of Picenum, on the northern Adriatic coastal plain of ancient Italy. Their endonym, if any, is not known for certain. There is linguistic evidence that the Picentini comprised two different ...

, an

Italic tribe The Italic peoples were an ethnolinguistic group identified by their use of Italic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. The Italic peoples are descended from the Indo-European speaking peoples who inhabited Italy from at leas ...

who lived in most of the territory of present-day Marche. The bird's connection to the region is attested to in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Roman literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...

: Image:03_vgrue-10-11.jpg, A

European green woodpecker The European green woodpecker (''Picus viridis'') is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the ...

, the

of the

, according to Greek and Roman literary tradition.

History

Duchy of Urbino

The only historical evidence (around 1508) of the

Duchy of Urbino The Duchy of Urbino was an independent duchy in early modern central Italy, corresponding to the northern half of the modern region of Marche. It was directly annexed by the Papal States in 1625. It was bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the east ...

flag is in a painting by

Timoteo Viti Timoteo Viti (Urbino, 1469 – 1523, Urbino), sometimes called Timoteo della Viti or Timoteo da Urbino, was an Italian Renaissance painter, who was closely associated with Raphael, who was fourteen years his junior. Career Born in Urbino, Viti wa ...

stored at the Accademia di Brera in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

. It appears to have two elongated tails. The background is golden yellow, the wheel located closer to the mast, essentially imitating the coat of arms of

House of Montefeltro Montefeltro is the name of a historical Italian family who ruled Urbino and Gubbio and became Dukes of Urbino in 1443. The family extinguished in the male line in 1508 and the duchy was inherited by the Della Rovere family. History The fa ...

- blue and gold stripes, with a second stripe containing a black eagle, which has been the coat of arms of the city of Urbino for centuries.

Republic of Ancona

The flag of the

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

, which appeared in the second half of the 12th century and survived until its annexation to the Papal State (1532). The imperial gift of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium' ...

, as a reward for merit and loyalty to

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine empero ...

, mirrored the Byzantine insignia, devoid of B-shaped symbols in the cantons. In more recent times (1934),

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

took over the ancient nautical insignia, placing them on its city symbols, but the cross is Greek.

March of Ancona

Following the loss of independence,

entrusted its maritime tradition to the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

and lowered its flag, replacing it with a simple red-yellow bicolor. Sometimes papal insignia were added.

Anconine Republic

The

Anconine Republic The Anconine Republic ( it, Repubblica Anconitana) was a revolutionary municipality formed on 19 November 1797. It came about after a French victory at Ancona in February 1797, and the consequent occupation of the city.Philip's Atlas of World H ...

was established in 1797 and existed as a provisional sister republic. The flag in use from the proclamation of independence on 19 November 1797 until the union with the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

on 7 March 1798. It was intended for general use, but for the merchant fleet it was preferred to pick up the

French tricolor The national flag of France (french: link=no, drapeau français) is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue ( hoist side), white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the ''Tricolour'' (), although the flag of Irelan ...

. Yellow and red referred to the historic

maritime republic The maritime republics ( it, repubbliche marinare), also called merchant republics ( it, repubbliche mercantili), were thalassocratic city-states of the Mediterranean Basin during the Middle Ages. Being a significant presence in Italy in the Mid ...

. Blue has been added in tribute to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Gallery

File:Flag of Marche (Lega Nord).svg, alt=, Flag of Marche proposed by Lega Nord

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marche, Flag of Flags of regions of Italy Culture in le Marche Flags introduced in 1995