Editing Italian Armed Forces (section)

==History==
{{Main|Military history of Italy}}
{{See also|List of wars involving Italy}}
[[File:Partenza da Quarto.jpg|thumb|left|[[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] leading the [[Expedition of the Thousand]] (1860–1861)]]
[[File:Trento 3 novembre 1918.jpg|thumb|left|Italian cavalry in [[Trento]] on 3 November 1918, after the victorious [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]]. The Italian victory in this battle<ref name="victory">{{cite book |last=Burgwyn |first=H. James |title=Italian foreign policy in the interwar period, 1918–1940 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1997 |page=4 |isbn=0-275-94877-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Schindler |first=John R. |title=Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2001 |page=303 |isbn=0-275-97204-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mack Smith |first=Denis |title=Mussolini |publisher=Knopf |year=1982 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mussolini0000mack/page/31 31] |isbn=0-394-50694-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/mussolini0000mack/page/31 }}</ref> marked the [[Armistice of Villa Giusti|end of the war on the Italian Front]], secured the dissolution of the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] and contributed to the [[Armistice with Germany|end of World War I]] just one week later.<ref name=Luden>{{cite book |quote=...&nbsp;[[Erich Ludendorff|Ludendorff]] wrote: ''In Vittorio Veneto, Austria did not lose a battle, but lose the war and itself, dragging Germany in its fall. Without the destructive battle of Vittorio Veneto, we would have been able, in a military union with the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, to continue the desperate resistance through the whole winter, in order to obtain a less harsh peace, because the Allies were very fatigued.'' |last=Paoletti |first=Ciro |title=A Military History of Italy |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2008 |page=150 |isbn=978-0-275-98505-9}}</ref>]]

The [[military history of Italy]] chronicles a vast time period, lasting from the military conflicts fought by the [[ancient peoples of Italy]], most notably the conquest of the Mediterranean world by the [[ancient Romans]], through the expansion of the Italian [[Italian city-states|city-states]] and [[maritime republics]] during the [[medieval period]] and the involvement of the [[List of historical states of Italy|historical Italian states]] in the [[Italian Wars]] and the [[wars of succession]], to the [[Napoleonic period]], the [[Italian unification]], the campaigns of the [[Italian Empire|colonial empire]], the two [[world wars]], and into the modern day, with world [[peacekeeping]] operations under the aegis of [[NATO]], the [[EU]] or the [[UN]]. The [[Italian Peninsula]] has been a centre of military conflict throughout [[History of Europe|European history]] due to its geostrategic position: because of this, [[Italy]] has a long military tradition.

The [[Risorgimento]] movement emerged to unite Italy in the 19th century. The [[Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia]] took the lead in a series of wars to liberate Italy from foreign control. Following three [[Wars of Italian Independence]] against the Habsburg Austrians in the north, the [[Expedition of the Thousand]] against the Bourbons of the Two Sicilies in the south, and the [[Capture of Rome]], the unification of the country was completed in 1871 when Rome was declared capital of Italy.
[[File:Flag of the President of Italy.svg|thumb|The [[presidential standard of Italy]]. The square shape and the [[savoy blue]] border symbolize the four Italian Armed Forces, which are commanded by the [[President of Italy]].<ref name="quirinale"/> Blue in [[heraldry]] also metaphorically symbolizes command.<ref name="heraldry"/>]]

The [[presidential standard of Italy]] ({{langx|it|Stendardo presidenziale italiano}}) is the distinctive standard of the presence of the [[President of Italy]]. The presidential standard is one of the [[National symbols of Italy]]. The standard recalls the colors of the [[flag of Italy]], with particular reference to the standard of the historic [[Italian Republic (Napoleonic)|Italian Republic of 1802–1805]]; the square shape and the [[savoy blue]] border, whose use was maintained even in the Republican era, symbolize the four Italian Armed Forces, which are commanded by the President of Italy.<ref name="quirinale">{{cite web|url=http://www.quirinale.it/qrnw/simboli/stendardo/stendardo.html |title=Lo Stendardo presidenziale |language=Italian |access-date=22 September 2010}}</ref> Blue in [[heraldry]] also metaphorically symbolizes command.<ref name="heraldry">{{cite web|url=https://www.aserramanna.it/2012/07/azzurri-origine-del-colore-della-nazionale/|title=Azzurri – origine del colore della nazionale|access-date=13 January 2025|language=it}}</ref>