Sewn to measure. On time. Every time.
Sewn to measure. On time. Every time.
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City of Siena Flag

SKU: B33 Category: Portfolio:

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Description

City of Siena Flag

White and black: the Siena flag

The Siena flag is the Balzana: white above, black below, divided by a horizontal line. Just two colours, the same as the city's coat of arms and gonfalone. In Siena there is no need to explain it: the Balzana is the city, and anyone who sees it flying knows at once what it stands for.

The Balzana in the Statute

The Statute of the Comune of Siena says it in one line: the city's coat of arms is «La Balzana», divided horizontally silver and black, recognised by decree of the Head of Government of 21 November 1934. It adds that the gonfalone too is divided silver and black. In heraldry silver is rendered as white: that is why the Sienese flag is white and black.

Seventy-seven flags in 1246

The first traces of the Balzana date from the second half of the thirteenth century. In 1246 the Comune paid for white and black cloth to make seventy-seven communal flags, and the Balzana is mentioned in the Book of Councils of 1255. About its origins, the Sienese tell legends: it is said that Senius and Ascanius, sons of Remus, fled Rome on a white horse and a black one; according to another version, the colours come from the smoke of the altars.

A free city

In 1147 Siena appointed its consuls for the first time, and by 1179 the Comune was fully established. Loyal to Frederick II, the city became the centre of the Ghibelline party in Tuscany and in 1260, at Montaperti, routed the Florentines. Between the twelfth and the sixteenth century it lived its period of greatest economic, political and artistic flowering.

The Contrade and the Palio

The Statute recognises the historic Contrade, defined in number and boundaries by the Proclamation of 7 January 1729, as guardians of the ancient traditions of the Sienese people. Twice a year, on 2 July and 16 August, the Palio is run. Some read exactly this in the Balzana: two opposite colours in the same shield, like the seventeen rival Contrade that come together in a single city.

Who chooses it

For anyone who is Sienese or has roots in Siena, for families who emigrated and Tuscan associations around the world, for the Comune, schools and the university, for the Contrade, the contrada societies and everyone who lives the Palio, for fans of Siena, for a wine bar, a restaurant or a shop selling Sienese products, for anyone who has seen Piazza del Campo and wants to take a memory home. We sew it to order, in the size and fabric you choose above, and you see the delivery date before you pay.

Flag facts

Verified against the official source

Official name
Comune di Siena
Also known as
La Balzana
Validity
Current
Years in use
unknown · period Before 1500
Type
Civic
ISO code
IT-SI
Use
Not applicable
Proportions
2:3
Number of colours
2

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