History
These sterling silver enamelled travel shield charms
were popular with European, British and American travelers in the
1940's, 1950's 1960's, 1970's, and are highly collectible items today.
The colorful vintage / retro look is very appealing to collectors
and are quite the conversation piece. Some have a vintage patina and
some look like they are brand new even if they are over 50 or 60 years
old. They are wearable postcards and miniature works of art.
Women documented their travels by collecting a souvenir shield charm
depicting the town or country coat of arms crest, a scenic picture
of the area, castles, a famous landmark (Eiffel Tower), building (White
House), person from history (Mozart) or an event (Olympics). These
charms were often given to women as gifts from their men who were
traveling abroad.
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Italian Flag -
The
flag of Italy (often referred to in Italian as Il Tricolore) is a
tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical bands of green, white
and red, with the green at the hoist side.
Meanings of the colors
The
first entity to use the Italian flag was the Cispadane Republic in
1796, after Napoleon's army crossed Italy. During this time, many small
republics based on the Jacobian model, were formed and almost all used
the French tricolour with different colours. The colours chosen by the
Cispadane Republic were red and white, the colours of the Flag of
Milan, and green which was the colour of the uniform of the Lombard
Legion.
Some have tried to attribute some particular values to
the colours and a common interpretation is that the green represents
the country's plains and the hills; white, the snowy Alps; and red, the
blood spilt in the Italian Independence wars. A more religious
interpretation is that the green represents hope, the white represents
faith and the red represents charity. This interpretation references
the three theological virtues.
more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Italy
The eighteenth-century Sala
del Tricolore, now site of the Reggio Emilia Town Council. Here, on 7
January 1797, the first tricolor of the Repubblica Cispadana was
adopted. |
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