Last modified: 2006-12-16 by dov gutterman
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THE FLAG OF THE PALERMO PROVINCE:
Exactly 137 years after its first president had come into office,
Province of Palermo - the biggest of the provinces of Sicily- has
raised on 2 September 1998 official flag of its own: a dark red
field with the provincial coat of arms, granted on 9 August 1910,
in the center. It comprises a black eagle in the breast of which
is a shield combining the arms of the capital cities of the four
departments forming the Province at that time. In the first
quarter is an eagle in gold over a red background for Palermo;
the second quarter, portraying Saint Calogero over a silver
field, recalls Tèrmini Imerese; three mullets forming a pall and
swimming towards a piece of bread in an azure and silver sea in
the third quarter represent Cefalù; the golden lion holding a
red heart on an azure background evokes Corleone. The Italian
provincial crown completes this design. Despite the suppression
of these four subdivisions in 1927, their symbols continue
legally to be part of the coat of arms of the Province and now of
its flag. The great black eagle was the symbol of Sicily during
the Middle Ages, led by the Swabian Emperors ruling over this
Island too, the major city of which was (and is) Palermo. The
first official hoisting of new flag occurred on that morning in
the presence of some forty gonfalons of local town while a band
was performing the provincial anthem. That very day each town
council was provided with that flag. To tell the truth the
ancient "Province of Palermo" was suppressed in 1946 by
the new Statute of the Autonomous Region of Sicily assuming
responsibility over local government system. In 1989 it was
officially replaced by the "Regional Province of
Palermo", over the same boundaries. Nevertheless 1861 is
usually considered to be the year when this community was
created.
Rosario Francesco Raunisi, 17 September 2002
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image from <www.araldicacivica.it>