Tricolour Museum

The Museum of the Tricolour is a place of remembrance and national pride, where history, art and culture intertwine to tell the story of the birth and evolution of the Italian Tricolour.

The collection originated thanks to Gaetano Chierici and was subsequently expanded by Naborre Campanini, but the idea of a museum dedicated entirely to the Italian flag is attributed to the historian Ugo Bellocchi, who in 1966 reconstructed, on the basis of documentary evidence, a model of the first Tricolore.

Between 1985 and 1987, the collection was first housed in the rooms adjacent to the historic Sala del Tricolore, but it was the Bicentenary in 1997 that marked its true revival, laying the foundations for the current museum.

On 7 January 2004, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the first section dedicated to the Napoleonic period was inaugurated; two years later, the section on the Risorgimento opened, featuring documents and artefacts up to 1897, the year of the first centenary celebrations.

In 2017, to mark the 220th anniversary of the Tricolore, the museum expanded its premises with a contemporary section.
Here, alongside workshops and creative activities, is the collection of works from the project ‘Ninety Artists for a Flag’, conceived by Deanna Veroni in support of the Mother and Child Hospital, and donated to the city by the Storchi family.
These works artistically reflect the various forms the Tricolore has taken over time, celebrating its history on a monumental scale.

The exhibition is spread over three floors:

The tour concludes in the Sala del Tricolore, the place where it all began: here, on 7 January 1797, delegates from the cities of Reggio, Bologna, Modena and Ferrara proclaimed the birth of the Cispadane Republic and the green, white and red flag, a symbol that would become the very soul of Italy.

• Ground floor - Ispirazione Tricolore / Tricolore Inspiration: a space where the Italian flag meets contemporary art, creativity and educational workshops.
• First floor – Bandiera Tricolore / Tricolour Flag (formerly the Napoleonic Room): this section recounts the political history of Reggio Emilia from 1796 until the start of the Restoration.
• Second floor – Italia Tricolore / Tricolour Italy (formerly the Risorgimento Room): this houses materials and memorabilia from the Risorgimento to the Unification of Italy, right up to Giosuè Carducci’s famous speech during the celebrations of 1897.

The tour concludes in the Sala del Tricolore, the place where it all began: here, on 7 January 1797, delegates from the cities of Reggio, Bologna, Modena and Ferrara proclaimed the birth of the Cispadane Republic and the green, white and red flag, a symbol that would become the very soul of Italy.