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.