ITALIAN ENSIGN

Marina Militare (Italian Navy) is one of the four branches of the military forces of Italy. It was formed in 1946, as the Navy of the Italian Republic. The naval ensign of the Marina Militare is the Italian tricolour with Marina Militare emblem on the white third. The emblem is composed by a shield, whose four parts are reference to Medieval Italian States such as: Republic of Venice, Republic of Genoa, Republic of Amalfi, and the Republic of Pisa. The crown, "corona rostrata", was proposed in 1939 by Admiral Cavagnari, as an acknowledge of the Italian Navy's origins in classical Roman times.