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Italy

Flag size calculator for Italy – the size of flag for each pole

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This page is an English translation of the Italian original. Where the two versions differ, the Italian text is the original.

No Italian law sets the size of the Tricolore according to the pole, but there are common sizes and some official guidance. For the pole height entered, the calculator shows the nearest standard size, the general guideline of the State Ceremonial Office and the nearest of the ordinary sizes the Office gives for staffs and poles.

Calculator

metres
Nearest standard size
150 × 225 cm
Height × length, 6 m row in an Italian flag maker’s table for ground-mounted poles
Guideline of the State Ceremonial Office
Length between 3.00 and 6.00 m
As a rule, a flag longer than half the pole and shorter than the whole pole
Nearest ordinary size
200 × 300 cm
Size given by the State Ceremonial Office for a 4 m balcony staff

How the calculator works

  • Nearest standard size: The calculator looks up the nearest row in an Italian flag maker's table for ground-mounted poles, which runs from 2 to 12 metres. Sizes are height × length.
  • Guideline of the State Ceremonial Office: As a rule, the flag is longer than half the staff or pole and shorter than its full length. The calculator therefore shows a flag length between half and all of the pole's height.
  • Nearest ordinary size: The Ceremonial Office gives 100 × 150 cm for a 2.5-metre indoor staff, 200 × 300 cm for a 4-metre balcony staff and 300 × 450 cm for an 8-metre ground pole as a guide. The calculator shows the one closest to the height entered.

The height is that of an upright ground-mounted pole. For balcony staffs, angled from the façade, the clear space in front of the façade and above the street also counts.

Examples

Pole heightSize in the tableLength under the Ceremonial Office's guideline
4 m100 × 150 cmbetween 2 and 4 m
6 m150 × 225 cmbetween 3 and 6 m
8 m200 × 300 cmbetween 4 and 8 m
10 m200 × 300 cmbetween 5 and 10 m
12 m300 × 450 cmbetween 6 and 12 m

The Ceremonial Office's guideline gives a wide range, meant also for balcony and indoor staffs, while the maker's table usually stays in the lower part of the range. The length of the Tricolore is always one and a half times its height, under legislative decree no. 1 of 1946. Proportions and common sizes are in the guide to flag sizes, and choosing the height in the guide to flagpole heights.

Size and half-mast

At half-mast the flag comes down the pole, and a very large flag on a short pole can come close to the ground or to obstacles. Half-mast is described in the guide to half-mast.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official rule on flag size?

No law sets the size of the flag according to the pole. In its answers to frequently asked questions, the State Ceremonial Office states that as a rule the flag is longer than half the staff or pole and shorter than its full length.

Which flag is usually found on a 6-metre pole?

In an Italian flag maker's table, a 6-metre ground pole corresponds to a flag of 150 × 225 cm. The State Ceremonial Office's general guideline for the same height is a flag between 3 and 6 metres long.

Does the calculator also work for balcony staffs?

The calculator starts from the height of an upright pole. For balcony staffs, the State Ceremonial Office gives an ordinary size of 200 × 300 cm on a 4-metre staff, which the calculator shows in the third box; the clear space in front of the façade still affects the choice.

Sources

This guide is based on the following sources, most of them in Italian:

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