The Festa Della Repubblica, celebrated on 2 June each year, marks the anniversary of the Italian vote for the country to become a republic. The National Day is one of the country’s national symbols and dates back to 1946. After the Second World War and the victory over fascism, the Italian people were called to cast their vote in a referendum on their country’s political future. On 2 and 3 June 1946, the first vote by universal suffrage in Italy took place through which people could decide if they wanted to live in a monarchy or a republic.
The Italian royal family, the House of Savoy, had previously supported the Mussolini regime. In the referendum, 54.3% of the people voted for the republic, which was declared the new form of state on 10 June 1946. Subsequently, the king, Umberto II of Savoy, decided to leave Italy and go into exile Portugal. The 2 June however, was declared Republic Day and celebrated for the first time in 1947 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Italian Republic.
Today, Festa Della Repubblica is celebrated with a ceremony in Rome during which the Italian president deposits a laurel wreath as a tribute to the Unknown Soldier at the Altare della Patria. There is also a military parade along Via dei Fori Imperiali in the capital which is accompanied by the Italian Air Force flying over the city and sending streaks of green, white, and red smoke into the sky.
Did you know?
- After 1946, the male members of the royal family were not only sent into exile, but also banned from re-entering Italy until 2002.
- The richness of Italy’s culture is a proven fact – you will find 51 UNESCO World Heritage Sites there (more than in any other country!).
- The standard version of the Italian language only emerged in 1861 – this is largely due to the high number of dialects, which can differ dramatically from one another.
- The Italian alphabet contains only 21 letters – you won’t find j, k, w, x or y there.
You can celebrate the Italian Republic Day by practising your interpretation skills on Italian speeches. The Speech Repository offers you 304 speeches on a variety of topics in Italian. Let’s get started!
Happy practice,
Your Speech Repository Team