- Italia Turrita
Italia Turrita is the
personification orallegory ofItaly , characterised by amural crown (hence "turrita" or "with towers" in theItalian language ) typical of Italian civicheraldry of communal origin.Italia Turrita is a woman with typical
Mediterranean attributes, such as a coloured and lively complexion, dark hair and an elegant and ideal beauty. She often holds in her hands a bunch of corn ears (a symbol of fertility and reference to the agrarian economy); during the fascist era she held afascio littorio , literally "bundle of the lictors".Over her head a five-pointed star is usually seen shining radiant; an ancient secular symbol of Italy purported to protect the nation, known as "Stellone d'Italia". Iconographic of the
Risorgimento , it was used as the crest of thearmorial bearings of the Kingdom of Italy from 1870 to 1890 and is the dominant element in the modern day coat of arms adopted at thebirth of the Italian Republic in 1948.External links
*The [http://www.illustrated-history.org/asp/zoom.asp?id=1000 front page] of
La Domenica del Corriere on25 May 1958 depicted Italia Turrita voting in that day’s general election
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