Shortly after taking office, during a visit to the municipal storage facilities, the head of the department showed Cortina d’Ampezzo’s Councillor for Tourism, Roberta Alverà, a remarkable discovery: in one section were preserved the original national flags from the 1956 Winter Olympics. From that moment, the Historical Flags project was born.
“With several years still to go before the Games, I felt it was important to recover this material, enhance its value, and bring it back into the public eye for the 2026 edition,” Councillor Alverà explains. “Together with the director of the Municipal Archives, all he flags were retrieved, catalogued, photographed, and transferred to the Town Archive. After professional cleaning and restoration, they were formally registered as part of the historic heritage of the Municipality of Cortina”. For the Olympic period, two initiatives were developed. The first involves lending the historic flags to local businesses, including hotels, shops, and restaurants. Under a simple loan agreement, the flags were entrusted on the condition that they be displayed with a caption referencing 1956 and noting that they belong to the Municipal Archive.
The response was enthusiastic. Once made available, numerous business owners came forward, and the flags are now on display throughout the town’s commercial establishments.
The second initiative concerns duplicate flags. In 1956, the flags had been displayed in various locations across the town. The recovered duplicates have been carefully prepared and will be donated to the nations that participated in the 1956 Games,
provided they have maintained political continuity and retained the same national emblem over the past seventy years. The first recipient of this symbolic gift was the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella. Mayor Lorenzi presented him with the original Italian flag from 1956. President Mattarella was visibly moved, expressed his appreciation, and announced that the flag would be honored with placement in the Sala dei Corazzieri. The original 1956 Olympic Rings f lag was presented to Giovanni Malagò, President of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation. In the coming week, twenty-two additional flags will be formally donated to participating nations. “We are convinced that a flag carries a profound meaning of connection and shared Olympic values,” Councillor Alverà concludes. “Beyond the intrinsic value of these seventy-year- old banners, we wanted this initiative to stand as a testament to the principles that the Olympic Games should promote: fraternity, friendship among nations, the Olympic truce, and cooperation between countries”. (m.b.)
