Padanian nationalism is an ideology and a regionalist movement demanding more autonomy, or even independence from Italy, for Padania.
Its main proponent is the Lega Nord, a federation of regional parties of Northern Italy, although there are some other minor Padanian nationalist parties (such as the Lega Padana and Lega Padana Lombardia) and some thinkers (such as Gilberto Oneto, Giancarlo Pagliarini and late Gianfranco Miglio) who are not part of Lega Nord. In 1996 in Veneto a short-lived separatist-Padanist movement was formed, the Padanian Independentist Movement.[1] On the other side, not all members of Lega Nord are keen Padanists; in Veneto, for instance, the influence of Venetism is also strong enough to counter-balance Padanism.
Lega Nord unilaterally proclaimed the independence of Padania on 15 September 1996 in Venice, but since then has come back to its original federalist credo, although the party constitution continues to declare that the independence of Padania is the party's final goal.[2] In that occasion Umberto Bossi, the leader of Lega Nord, echoing the United States Declaration of Independence, proclaimed:
We the peoples of Padania solemnly declare that Padania is an independent and sovereign federal republic. We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honour.
In the following years Lega Nord installed a non-recognized Padanian Parliament near Mantua, elected in self-organized elections and a government in Venice. Currently there is the so-called "Parliament of the North" based in Vicenza, which functions as an internal structure of the party. Lega Nord proposed also a flag, the Sun of Alps, and a national anthem, the Va' Pensiero chorus from Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco, in which the exiled Hebrew slaves lament for their lost homeland.
More recently the party is trying to stress the independent status of Padania through sports and other activities. Since 1998 Lega Nord organized a Padania national football team, which took part and won 2008, 2009 and 2010 VIVA World Cup. They also sponsor the beauty contest Miss Padania since 1998.[5]
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