In Italy the emblems of national values are back in fashion. No longer confined only to sports events and military missions, the Italian flag and Mameli’s anthem have become the protagonists of a real revival. It was Carlo Azeglio Ciampi who called to the attention of all Italians the prestige of the flag – «one in every house» –, the evocative power of the Canto degli italiani (Song of the Italians), and the importance of celebrating the National Day of the Republic reintroduced in 2001 in a fitting manner. The authors evoke the testimony of President Giorgio Napolitano, who on the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, when commenting on the crisis, requested that «everyone, more than ever, does his part» in the single and unitary interest of the nation. The authors of this book cover the genesis of the two national symbols par excellence and narrate the Italian flag’s fascinating history composed of clandestine moments and glorious ones, from its birth in Reggio Emilia in 1797 to its adoption by the Italian Republic 150 years later. And they also narrate the partially unknown story of the Italian national anthem, Fratelli d’Italia, reconstructing the intriguing figure of its author, Goffredo Mameli, who lost his life at the tender age of 22 while defending the Roman Republic. Now more than ever Italians feel the need to protect their important heritage – the Risorgimento, that cannot and must not be dispersed – and to revive in the nation’s memory and conscience, from the North to the South, the reasons of indivisibility as the source of social cohesion and as the essential foundation for any progress.