Crimson & Emerald & White

Crimson is the Italian red — the deep vivid crimson-to-scarlet of the Italian Tricolore's red vertical stripe. The Italian Tricolore (Italian: il tricolore — 'the three colors') is the national flag of Italy — adopted in its current form at the proclamation of the Italian Republic on June 2, 1946, with the dimensions and specifications formalized by the Italian Constitution of 1948 (Article 12: 'La bandiera della Repubblica è il tricolore italiano: verde, bianco e rosso, a bande verticali e di eguali dimensioni' — 'The flag of the Republic is the Italian tricolor: green, white, and red, in vertical bands of equal dimensions'). The historical origin of the Tricolore: the Italian tricolor was first used as a military standard on January 7, 1797, in Reggio Emilia, by the Cispadane Republic (a French client republic in northern Italy, created during Napoleon Bonaparte's Italian campaign of 1796-1797). The color specification: the current Italian Tricolore is specified in the Italian Flag Law (Legge 22 maggio 1998, n. 167) as: green = Pantone 17-0145 TPX; white = Pantone 11-0601 TPX; red = Pantone 18-1662 TPX — the red specified is more accurately a vivid scarlet-to-tomato-red than deep crimson, but in artistic and ceremonial representations, the Tricolore red is conventionally rendered as deep crimson-to-scarlet. The association with Risorgimento: the Italian Tricolore is the most important symbol of the Risorgimento — the 19th-century Italian national unification movement (approximately 1815-1871) — a deep crimson association that gives the color its most powerful Italian cultural resonance. Emerald is the Italian green — the vivid jewel-green of the Italian Tricolore's green vertical stripe (the hoist-side — the stripe nearest the flagpole). The Italian landscape green: the Tricolore green is associated with the most characteristic colors of the Italian natural landscape — the vivid green of the Mediterranean garrigue and macchia (the low scrub vegetation of the Italian Mediterranean coast and interior — dominated by rosemary, lentisk, sage, cistus, kermes oak, and wild olive — Olea europaea variety oleaster); the vivid green of the Apennine mountain meadows in spring and early summer; and the vivid green of the Italian agricultural landscape at its most productive. In the culinary tradition: the vivid green of the Italian flag is also associated with the most characteristic Italian vegetable ingredients — basil (Ocimum basilicum — the quintessential Italian herb — particularly the vivid green leaves of Genovese basil in pesto Genovese); spinach (Spinacia oleracea — in pasta all'uovo con spinaci — the classic green pasta of Emilia-Romagna); and raw extra-virgin olive oil (pressed from green, not fully ripe olives — the most prestigious Italian oils, particularly Lucca DOP and Garda DOP, are specifically vivid green from the high chlorophyll content of the green olives). White is the Italian marble — the pure luminous white of the most celebrated Italian marble — particularly Carrara marble (Marmo di Carrara — extracted from the Apuan Alps above Carrara, Massa-Carrara, Tuscany — the most celebrated and most historically significant marble in Western art history). Carrara marble: characterized by its pure, crystalline white color (produced by the extremely high purity of the calcite — calcium carbonate — crystals in the marble, with minimal impurities that would introduce color) with fine, uniform grain and very high workability (it carves without fracturing, takes a high polish, and is translucent to a depth of approximately 3-5 mm in thin sections — the characteristic quality that makes marble sculpture appear 'alive' rather than opaque). Key works in Carrara marble: Michelangelo's 'David' (1501-1504 — Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence — the most celebrated marble sculpture in the world); Michelangelo's 'Pietà' (1498-1499 — St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City); the Pantheon's marble pavement; and countless other Western art masterpieces.