Italy celebrated the 80th anniversary of the founding of its republic on Tuesday with a series of ceremonies and military displays in Rome, honouring the 1946 referendum that transformed the country from a monarchy into a democracy.
President Sergio Mattarella opened the commemorations by laying a wreath at the Altar of the Fatherland, the monument in central Rome dedicated to the Unknown Soldier, before attending the traditional military parade. Troops, emergency services, and civil protection personnel marched through the historic Roman Forum, while the Italian Air Force's aerobatic display team performed a flypast, painting the sky in green, white and red — the colours of the national flag. In one of the day's most striking images, firefighters unfurled a colossal 400-kilogram Italian flag over the ancient Colosseum. Tenor Andrea Bocelli performed the Italian national anthem as part of the celebrations.
The date, known as Festa della Repubblica, marks the referendum of 2 June 1946, in which Italian citizens voted to abolish the monarchy and replace it with a republic. The vote also produced a Constituent Assembly charged with drafting a new constitution, which came into force in 1948. Notably, the 1946 election was the first national vote in which Italian women were permitted to participate, making it a landmark moment not only for the form of government but also for civil rights.
The 80th anniversary carries particular resonance at a time when the values of democratic governance are widely debated across Europe and beyond. Italy's republic emerged from the ruins of World War Two and the collapse of Benito Mussolini's Fascist dictatorship, and the 1946 vote represented a decisive break with that authoritarian past. The constitution it produced enshrined political pluralism, civil liberties, and the separation of powers.
For Italians, the Festa della Repubblica functions as both a moment of national pride and an occasion to reflect on the foundations of the modern state — a significance that Tuesday's large-scale public celebrations, drawing crowds to the streets of Rome, appeared to underline.