---
title: "Flag of Italy: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Italy flag stands for, its official 2:3 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted. Plus the flags it gets mistaken for."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Italy

**The flag of Italy: Three equal vertical bands of green at the hoist, white, and red.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1946

*[Flag drawn on the page: Italy]*

The colours were fixed by law only in 2006, and the law names Pantone textile chips — Fern Green 17-6153, Bright White 11-0601 and Flame Scarlet 18-1662 — rather than any digital value. Before that, official flags drifted noticeably in shade, and a 2004 Italian government complaint about supply variation is what prompted the specification. The tricolour dates from the Cispadane Republic of 1797 and was Napoleonic in origin; the green replaced the blue of the French flag, most plausibly because green was the colour of the Milanese civic militia. The republican flag of 1946 differs from the kingdom's only by the removal of the Savoy shield.

## Flags it gets confused with

*[Flag drawn on the page: Italy, Mexico, Ireland]*

*Drawn at each flag’s own official ratio, which is itself the difference in some of these pairs.*

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Mexico | Mexico is longer at 4:7, uses a darker green, and carries the eagle-and-serpent coat of arms on the white band. |
| Ireland | Ireland's third band is orange rather than red, and its ratio is a longer 1:2. |

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Green** (#008C45) — Traditionally the plains and hills; officially "fern green"
- **White** (#F4F5F0) — Traditionally the snow of the Alps; officially "bright white"
- **Red** (#CD212A) — Traditionally the blood of the wars of unification; officially "flame scarlet"

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1946
- **Colours:** green, white, red

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Italy look like?

Three equal vertical bands of green at the hoist, white, and red.

### What do the colours of the Italy flag mean?

Green: traditionally the plains and hills; officially "fern green". White: traditionally the snow of the Alps; officially "bright white". Red: traditionally the blood of the wars of unification; officially "flame scarlet".

### How do you tell the Italy flag from the Mexico one?

Mexico is longer at 4:7, uses a darker green, and carries the eagle-and-serpent coat of arms on the white band.

### When was the Italy flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1946, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Italy](https://atoneplace.net/country/italy/)
- [The flag of Mexico](https://atoneplace.net/flag/mexico/)
- [The flag of Ireland](https://atoneplace.net/flag/ireland/)
- [Every flag with green in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/green/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-africa/)
- [The flag of Jamaica](https://atoneplace.net/flag/jamaica/)
- [The flag of Pakistan](https://atoneplace.net/flag/pakistan/)
- [The flag of Palestine](https://atoneplace.net/flag/palestine/)
- [The flag of Portugal](https://atoneplace.net/flag/portugal/)
- [The flag of Saudi Arabia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/saudi-arabia/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)