L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS eighteenth-century top. The c a r t i s k e p t n e a r P o r t a a l Prato and used only once a y e a r , o n E a s t e r m o r n i n g , when oxen pull it to Piazza del Duomo; here, it's placed between the cathedral and the Baptistery. A thin wire connects the high altar to the cart, and a small mechanical dove, the colombina, flies along it carrying the sacred flame that ignites the fire- works. For us Bandierai, Easter m o r n i n g i s a l l a b o u t t h e S c o p p i o d e l C a r r o : w e ' r e there before seven, checking t i m i n g , u n i f o r m s , e v e r y small detail of the parade. Even the youngest members t a k e p a r t , l e a r n i n g t h e sequence and the discipline that make the event so pre- cise! B a c k t o t h e p a r a d e and your group: who can t a k e p a r t ? A r e w o m e n and children involved? Among the flag-wavers, there are children from age ten, but not women, because we're a historical reenact- ment group, and in the six- t e e n t h c e n t u r y w o m e n weren't part of the military s p h e r e . T h e d e c i s i o n t o m a i n t a i n a l l - m a l e f l a g - wavers simply follows the logic of historical accuracy, as back in the Renaissance the ensign's role belonged strictly to the military, and t h e g r o u p ' s a u t h e n t i c i t y depends on reproducing that structure. Women do have a central role in the parade, t h o u g h , a s t h e y b e c o m e Madonne Fiorentine, a sym- b o l o f t h o s e c e n t u r i e s ' famous female figures. W h a t r e c o g n i t i o n s have you received? I n 2 0 2 3 , f o r o u r 5 0 t h anniversary, the City of Flo- rence awarded us the Fiorino d'Oro. We've received the Presidential Medal of the Italian Republic, the Silver Gonfalon from the Regional Council, and we're the only historical group to have a national postage stamp. Have you worked on publications or heritage projects? Yes. We published Rosso e Blu on our first 35 years, and a p h o t o b o o k , B a n d i e r a i degli Uffizi, for our 40th. We produced a film shown in the Salone dei Cinquecen- t o a n d p r o m o t e d t h e restoration of the Marzocco on Palazzo Vecchio's terrace, a nineteenth-century copy of Donatello's lion. Personally, I wrote a book on the Scop- pio del Carro with two col- leagues from the group. Let's talk about your c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h e United States. How did it begin, and what does i t m e a n t o y o u ? It's deep and long-standing, thanks also to many Italian Americans who keep their interest in Florentine tradi- tions alive. Every time we visit the US, we're welcomed warmly. It's a way for many to reconnect with their roots. Your first trip to the U n i t e d S t a t e s w a s i n 1976, the Bicentennial. What do you remember? I w a s s e v e n t e e n . I n N e w York, we opened the Colum- bus Day Parade: unforget- table. The parade ran from eight in the morning to three in the afternoon along Fifth Avenue to Central Park. At t h e e n d , a n e l d e r l y m a n approached me with a cane. He was an Italian who had emigrated as a young man and never returned. He told me that seeing Italians in costume in New York was "something extraordinary." H e w a s m o v e d t o t e a r s . That's when I realized what reenactment really is about: i t ' s i d e n t i t y . I t ' s s h a r e d memory. And after 1976? Which t r i p s s t a n d o u t ? We've visited several times, including 1982 and 2017, and our delegations marched in Boston, Philadelphia, and S p r i n g f i e l d f o r I t a l y ' s Republic Day on June 2. In 1 9 8 2 , w e e v e n s p l i t i n t o t h r e e t e a m s : N e w Y o r k , Chicago, and San Francisco. In Florence, what is your relationship with the American communi- ty? Very active. In 2023, we mounted a 50th-anniversary exhibition in Palazzo Vec- chio's Sala d'Armi with fif- teen mannequins. The first official visit after opening was from the US Consul in Florence. At one point, the consulate risked closing, but it luckily stayed open. Ties a r e s t r o n g , h e l p e d b y t h e m a n y A m e r i c a n s t u d e n t s and professionals in the city. W o u l d y o u l i k e t o r e t u r n t o t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s s o o n ? Very much. We'd welcome c h a n c e s t o g r e e t I t a l i a n A m e r i c a n c o m m u n i t i e s . We've seen how our perfor- mances move people, and w e ' d l i k e t o o f f e r t h a t t o them again. We're volun- t e e r s , a n d d o i n g t h i s i s rewarding: a concrete way to give something back to those who, for many reasons, left Italy. "Our connection with the US is deep and long-standing. Every time we visit, we're wel- comed warmly. It's a way for many to reconnect with their roots," says the Bandierai's Captain, Antonio Marrone CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 The Bandierai degli Uffizi's Captain Antonio Marrone (Photo: Tiziano Baldi, courtesy of Bandierai degli Uffizi) Dante and the flags of his beloved Florence (Photo: Mauro Sani, courtesy of Bandierai degli Uffizi)

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