Flag of Veneto

The flag of the region of Veneto

Former flag of the Republic of Venice

The flag of the Region of Veneto derives from the flag used by the Republic of Venice. The main design of the flag was kept, as a rectangle including the Lion of Saint Mark with the opened gospel (with the Latin motto Pax tibi Marce evangelista meus, "Peace to you Mark, my evangelist"), and attached to the rectangle are some tails. The main changes are:

• - the Lion is no longer in a red field, but instead it has its paws resting on the sea (the Adriatic) and the land (the Venetian Plain), which rises to the mountains (the Alps), with the sky in background;
• - the tails are no longer six, as in the sestieri ("sixths", the districts of old Venice), but seven, the number of the provinces of Veneto;
• - each tail now bears the arms of the chief town (Vicenza, Verona, Venice, Rovigo, Treviso, Padua and Belluno) of each province (Vicenza, Verona, Venice, Rovigo, Treviso, Padova, Belluno);
• - the colors of the decorations are not only red and gold, but dark blue has been added, as this colour was acknowledged as a symbol of the Veneti in the past (blavum seu venetum colorem 'blue, that is, Veneto colour')