L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano W h e n U S n a t i o n a l s p o r t t e a m s c o m p e t e internationally, their uni- forms mirror the colors of the flag: blue, red and white. So, why aren't the Italians clad in white, red or green, but in azzurro? G o o d q u e s t i o n ! T h e answer is curious enough to deserve an article that will m a k e t h e h i s t o r y l o v e r s among our readers happy. N o w , e v e n i f t o d a y a l l Italian national teams and athletes wear azzurro (a light, yet deep shade of blue), the origin of the tradi- tion are connected to soc- cer. Italy' soccer nazionale debuted on the 15 th of May 1910, in a game against our cousins the French. In that o c c a s i o n , o u r j e r s e y w a s white, with starched cuffs and collar and a tricolored band. The choice was likely inspired by the uniform of Pro Vercelli, the most suc- cessful and popular soccer team of those years; others think that, quite simply, we hadn't decided on a design, yet, and went with the most neutral of all shades, white. Italy ended up winning 6-2 that day, so at least we can say the white brought good luck to the team, so much so that, still today, Italy's sec- onda maglia, the uniform our players wear when play- ing away, is still white, with a c c e n t s o f b l u e h e r e a n d there, depending on the jer- sey design of the moment. After that victory against France, Italy didn't play for a bunch of months, but when it returned to the field, there was no sign of white on their shirts: on the 6 th of January 1 9 1 1 , w h e n I t a l y p l a y e d Hungary in Milan, in front of some 5,000 fans, our boys were all in blue! But why? Fino Fini, the director of FIGC's (the Italian soccer federation) Museo Civico del Calcio, Italy's official soccer museum, explains the rea- son has a deep connection with Italian history: you see, that particular shade of blue we today call "azzurro," was known as blu Savoia –or Savoia blue – in those years, because it was the color of Italy's royals, the Savoias. The Piedmontese family had p i c k e d b l u e t o s y m b o l i z e them in name of their pro- f o u n d d e v o t i o n f o r t h e Virgin Mary, often associat- ed with the color, and whose veil and mantle are always represented in blue for litur- gical reasons. And so, perhaps to honor the King, perhaps to attract the protection of the Holy Mother of God, it was decid- ed to use the Savoias' unique shade of blue for the nation- a l s o c c e r t e a m , t o o . A s a matter of fact, the connec- tion with our old royal house was also underlined by how their coat of arms – a red shield with a white cross -- w a s e m b r o i d e r e d o n t h e shirts. Against Hungary, on t h a t E p i f a n i a d a y o f 1 1 0 years ago, Italy wore a blue jersey, white shorts, black socks and it has never looked back since – even though the socks are today blue or white instead. That first maglia azzurra was a simple Savoia blue polo shirt, with laces instead of buttons, shortly after substituted by crew- neck t-shirts. As we said, this has been o u r s p o r t u n i f o r m s i n c e , with the only exception of the Berlin Olympics of 1 9 3 6 w h e n M u s s o l i n i imposed a total black look to our soccer players when they competed against France: il Duce wanted to show the i n f l u e n c e a n d p o w e r o f Fascism – whose color was black – to the world even in sports. T o d a y , I t a l y ' s b e l o v e d b l u e j e r s e y h a s a m i l l i o n meanings and symbolizes a lot more than our sports. FIGC president Gabriele Gravina explains that "the a z z u r r o m e a n s e m o t i o n s and sharing to us. It's the color of a shirt that has been celebrating for the past 110 years -- every day, in every g a m e o u r n a t i o n a l t e a m plays – one of Italy's most beautiful and thrilling sto- ries. It's a dream of friend- s h i p a n d u n i t y t h a t t r a n - scends sports to embrace the whole country." O vunque (oh- voon-kooaih) m e a n s a n y - w h e r e ( o r e v e r y w h e r e ) , or wherever in English and appeared for the first time in the 13 th century. It trans- lates the ideas of "wherever you go," "in every place," a n d i t i s f o r m e d b y t h e adverb ove, an old fashioned version of dove, "where," and the suffix -unque, which we use in many compound adverbs and pronouns, with the meaning of "any." And that's how "ovunque" exists: as the union and "where" and "any." I a m s u r e t h a t , i f y o u think about it a second, you c a n c o m e u p w i t h o t h e r words that end in -unque: comunque (however)? Yes! Chiunque (whoever)? Yes again! Did I hear qualunque (whichever)? You're right! I n I t a l i a n , w e u s e d ovunque ovunque… every- where! It is common and e a s y , w e j u s t l o v e i t : o v u n q u e v a d a , r i e s c e a trovare nuovi amici ("wher- ever he goes, he makes new f r i e n d s " ) . B u t a l s o : s o n o s p a v e n t a t a , q u e l t i p o m i segue ovunque io vada! ("I am afraid, that guy follows me everywhere I go!"). We have also a slightly more modern version of it, dovunque, which means the exact same thing and it's formed by the union of dove (where) and our little suffix - unque. Right, I said "more modern," but we are still talking hundreds of years a g o , b e c a u s e d o v u n q u e entered our vocabulary in t h e 1 4 t h c e n t u r y ! I t j u s t s o u n d s m o r e m o d e r n , because we use "dove" for " w h e r e " m u c h m o r e t h a n "ove," a pretty old fashioned – albeit elegant – term. O v u n q u e t u s i a n e l m o n d o , t r o v e r a i u n r i s - torante Italiano! Wherever you are in the world, you'll find an Italian restaurant! Ho chiesto ovunque, ma non sono riuscito a trovare quel libro. I asked everywhere, but I couldn't find that book. In Italia puoi prendere il treno per andare ovunque. You can take the train to go anywhere in Italy. LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day – Ovunque… and you can go anywhere! Italian curiosities—Why Italian sport teams are called Azzurri? The Italian soccer national team, or the Azzurri (Photo: Fabio Diena/Dreamstime) © Sofiia Shunkina | Dreamstime.com

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