Coat of arms
Since Mediaeval times, it has been common for cities, towns, areas and even aristocratic
families to adopt a "sign" to distinguish themselves from others. Thus
was born the science of heraldry. Monuments to the Blessed Salvatore,
later to become Saint Salvatore and the patron of San Salvatore di
Fitalia, contain no particular heraldic signs or characteristics that
could, over time, have been used to creat a distinctive and representational
"Civic Arms".
Heraldic signs of reference usually originate from privileges bestowed by a
King, historic events or historically important noble families that
have ceased to exist. As early as 1818 "the Government wished to regulate
the use of arms by Sicilian communes and requested a copy from each
town". Adhering to this decree, the Mayor at that time, in a letter
dated 3rd November 1818, sent the Governor of Patti (the administrative
authority for the area and representative of the Government), an imprint
of an old seal from which it was possible to make out the civic arms
– a Sicilian eagle with a shield on its chest bearing a monogram of
the Name of Jesus.
At that time
it was the custom of the compendium of civic heraldry to use the coat of arms
of the dynasty of reference. Local historical events consistently refer to
deep and indissoluble links with the Sicilian Church. Government of the territory
of San Salvatore was characterised by the division of families by birth and
surname into two parishes. This changed on 20th December 1828 (eight centuries
after the official constitution of the territory of Fitalia), when, with the
Apostolic Diploma of Pope Pius VII, the area was definitively and solely assigned
to the Bishop of Patti. This event was of great importance in local history,
as may be noted by reference to it in the civic heraldry.
In an extraordinary meeting on 9th August 1906, the local town council issued
a deliberative act authorising the Mayor to
begin the process of registering the Commune's
coat of arms with the competent organisms.
On 3rd May 1907, Minister Giolitti, having read the documents,
spoken to the Commissary of the King and the
Heraldic Commission and having consulted the
regulations, declared that the Commune of San Salvatore
di Fitalia had the right to use its coat of
arms, which was "a silver background with a
black, crowned eagle whose chest is covered by a gold
shield inscribed with the abbreviation of The
Name of Jesus in gold" (the shield is decorated
with the crown of the Commune). The coat of
arms was thus registered in the Heraldic Book
of Moral Organisations.
The same coat of arms
remained in use uninterruptedly until 1963 (even though in 1959 the use of a
different coat of arms had been discussed). With the deliberation n° 62 of
the Municipal Council on 7th September 1963, it was decided to purchase a
new banner from the Heraldic Institute of Genoa to substitute the older version.
The Heraldic Institute received a sketch from the Commune of a rampant red
lion in a silver field, topped with three blue stars. Research has shown that
the adoption of this banner was completely without motivation. Indeed, the
Heraldic Institute came to the same conclusion in 1979 and requested the Commune
to show a photocopy of the Royal Decree of approval for the coat of arms and
the banner, attaching the details of the legitimate coat of arms, or rather
the one dating back to the Ministerial Decree of 3rd May 1907. The letter,
discovered at the Heraldic Institute in question, seems never to have been
added to the protocol by the Commune, which had illegitimately substituted
and used a civic coat of arms that
had nothing to do with local history and that hadn’t been authorised in conformity
with the law. (Historical research in the form of oral testimony seems to
point to the fact that the desire to substitute the coat of arms had originated
from a disagreement between the Bishopric and the Commune as to how to manage
the chapel of the Sanctuary of San Calogero. The Commune was forced to reinstitute
the town's original coat of arms and, with it, to remember its history with
pride.
