Deep-dive

Identity: the first Tricolour, San Prospero, Ville and neighbourhoods, the Reggio Emilia Approach

The statute recalls 7 January 1797, when the Sala Civica adopted the Tricolour that became the flag of the Cispadane Republic. Coat of arms with a red cross on white and the motto "Pace Belloque Fidelis", banner with the Resistance gold medal; patron San Prospero (24 November). A city of municipal preschools.

Sections: Geography · History · Population · Languages · Time zone · Public holidays

The Tricolour

The municipal statute, approved in 1991 and last revised in 2022, devotes an article to the Tricolour: on 7 January 1797, in Reggio Emilia, in the Sala Civica now called the Sala del Tricolore, the white, red and green flag was adopted, later becoming the banner of the Cispadane Republic. Among its honours the municipality awards the "Primo Tricolore" and honorary citizenship.

Symbols, patron, territory

The coat of arms is a red cross on a white field with the letters S.P.Q.R. in the quarters, a five-tower mural crown and the motto "Pace Belloque Fidelis". The silk banner, decorated with the gold medal for valour in the Resistance, shows the Madonna della Ghiara on one side and the coat of arms on the other. San Prospero, a bishop, is the city's protector: 24 November is a feast day (the anti-smog ordinance exempts it from the traffic bans and makes an exception that day to the ban on outdoor burning) and a fair is held in Piazza San Prospero. The municipality comprises the city, the historic villages (Ville) and the neighbourhoods; participation runs through neighbourhood, area and city-wide councils (Consulte).

Early-childhood education

Reggio Emilia is known for its network of municipal infant-toddler centres and preschools, built with Loris Malaguzzi, the municipality and citizens, which gave its name to the Reggio Emilia Approach; Reggio Children, a municipal company founded in 1994, promotes it and is based at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre on viale Ramazzini 72/A. The city's integrated public system takes children aged 3 to 36 months in municipal and contracted infant-toddler centres, nursery sections of FISM schools and a few private services.