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Left and Liberty, Italy

Sinistra e Libertà

images by Andrea Pollett, 20 March 2010, 28 April 2009

Overview

See also:

Overview

Sinistra e Libertà (Left and Liberty) - This is a new coalition, founded in March 2006, which includes:
- Sinistra Democratica (Democratic Left), i.e. the faction that broke off from the Left Democrats in 2007, judging their policy too centre-wise;
- Movimento per la Sinistra (Movement for the Left), i.e. the faction that broke off from the Communist Refoundation Party in early 2009, judging their policy too radically left-wise;
- Partito Socialista Italiano (Socialist Party);
- Federazione dei Verdi (Green Federation);
- Unire La Sinistra (Unite The Left), a small faction that broke off the Party of Italian Communists in 2008, judging their policy too radically left-wise.
The coalition will take part in the European elections in June 2009. The flag is red, with the round logo in central position. The upper half of the logo is red, marked by a thick white outline, and bears the word "SINISTRA" in white. The bottom half is white, bearing the words "e LIBERTÀ" in green; below the words are three small symbols: (from the left) a red rose with twelve stars around its stem (i.e. the symbol of the Socialist group in the European Parliament), a green circle with a smiling sun and a white band saying "VERDI" (i.e. the logo of the Green Federation) and a red chevron with a white/green outline (i.e. the symbol of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament).
The lettering is in uppercase, except the word "e", which is in lowercase and in italics style.
The first time I saw this flag, on the day the coalition leaders held their first public speech (march 21, 2009), the background colour was white. But ever since, I only saw the red version of the flag, a colour that appears much more consistent with the political orientation of the coalition. I don't know whether the dual version was deliberately planned, or whether the chosen colour was initially white, and was changed into red at a later stage. In either case, I guess that sympathizers may dislike the first colour; this would give reason for the early discontinuation of the white flag.
A picture of the white flag held by the party leaders can be seen here.
In this version, the size of the logo appears slightly smaller and surrounded by a thin black outline.
I am presently unable to tell whether the white flag can be officially considered a pattern still in use or a very short-living obsolete variant.
Andrea Pollett, 28 April 2009

Here is a photograph by me, taken 23 May 2009, at Verona.
M. Schmöger, 1 June 2009