San Marco’s Flag is an ancient symbol, made of glory, hard working, ideals and many Veneti, who lived before us and managed to found one of the most renowned Republics in the world.
The winged Lion is an archaic symbol often appearing in findings of ancient Veneti (since 1000 b.C), like vases, belts and vary manufactured objects.
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 San Marco’s Flag is an ancient symbol, made of glory, hard working, ideals and many Veneti, who lived before us and managed to found one of the most renowned Republics in the world. The winged Lion is an archaic symbol often appearing in findings of ancient Veneti (since 1000 b.C), like vases, belts and vary manufactured objects.
It appears again during the Venetian Republic. During the first years of the Republic (697 A.D., the first Doxe) the flag was represented by a cross: yet, in 828 two Venetian merchants Bon da Ma£amoco and Rustico da Torce£o carried Saint Mark’s body from Alexandria (Egypt), just conquered by Muslims, to Venice. This precious relic could avoid Arab’s custom checks since it was hidden under pork, considered as impure and untouchable by Mohammed’s disciples. The prediction was thus realized: indeed, according to tradition, Saint Mark had disembarked on the Venetian shore long before to escape a storm during his trip from Alexandria to Aquileia; an angel had appeared in front of him on the shore saying “Pax tibi Marce, Evangelista Meus” (Peace be with thou Mark, my evangelist) and predicting that in the future he would be venerated by the people of that place.
Thus Venice took San Marco as its protector: the symbol of Evangelist Saint Mark was namely the winged lion. This was a strategy carried on by those who ruled Venice, becoming more and more a rich and powerful city: those far-sighted men tried to gain more autonomy from the Church of Rome. In 1096 the first written document appears, which tells about San Marco’s flag with the Lion keeping the cross between his paws: this had been given to th son of Doxe Vitale Michiel I who was leaving for the Crusade in the holy land.
Since 1257 all Venetian ships hoisted the flag of the Lion. However, its heraldry has never been codified exactly and the way it was represented showed a certain freedom of choice and some variations. The infantry usually had the Saint Mark with the Cross between the paws of the Lion painted in red or gold against a white background, while the navy employed a golden lion on a purple-red background. It is also known that (light) blue is the heraldic colour of Veneti and that Venice has always had blue and gold as its colours: on the sea, however, it was not easy to recognize.
Many people think that the open book (the Gospel) meant “peace” and the closed one meant “war” but there is no evidence of it, although there is a strong popular belief. The Saint Mark’s flag employed in Venetian edicts and proclaims or in the colone marciane was the going lion with the Gospel, whereas the lion in moleca (closed in a round shape) was employed in stamps.
The six tails of the flag represent the six sestieri (districts) of Venice. Since there were no fixed rules, one can find flags with different backgrounds and colours. Indeed when the Gospel is present (sometimes it could be a different book) the most common motto is “Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus”, but other times you could find “Alliger Ecce Leo Terras Mare Sidera Carpo” or “Victor Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus” too.
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