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Stemmi di comuni e province d'Italia
Italian Civic Heraldry

ORVIETO

Origin/meaning:
The red cross in the first quarter represents the colours and the emblem of the free Guelph State which was based on a popular form of government. The black eagle bearing the crown was given to Orvieto by Rome to mark the alliance against Viterbo, while the gold rake on the eagle's breast was granted by Charles of Anjou in memory of his appointment as King of Puglia and Sicily by Pope Urbanus IV and of his coronation at the hands of Pope Clement IV, which took place in Orvieto in 1277.
The lion symbolises the enduring alliance between Orvieto and Florence. The keys which the lion holds on the left were given with the motto fortis et fidelis (strong and faithful) by Pope Adrian IV in return for the safe stay which the city provided to the Holy Seat.

Because of the Etruscan origins of the city and its later status as a Roman colony, sacred to the goddess Juno, a symbolic goose on a rock, in the act of dropping a stone, represented at first the entire coat of arms of Orvieto.

Literature : Anonymous : 500 Stemmi di comuni Italiani. Milano, 1940. Information taken from (http://www.eng.uci.edu/students/alberto/orvieto/en_stemma.html)


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