Editing Sicily (section)

=== <span class="anchor" id="Flag"></span> <span class="anchor" id="Regional symbols"></span> Flag and emblem===
{{Main|Triskelion#Sicily|Flag of Sicily}}

The [[Flag of Sicily]], regarded as a regional icon, was first adopted in 1282, after the [[Sicilian Vespers]] of [[Palermo]].<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://sicilianfoodculture.com/history-sicilian-flag/ | title=Our History: the Sicilian Flag | date=March 1, 2018}}</ref> It is characterised by the presence of the [[triskelion|triskeles]] in the middle, depicting the head of [[Medusa]] and three wheat ears representing the extreme fertility of the land of Sicily. In early mythology, when Medusa was slain and beheaded by Perseus, the Medusa head was placed in the centre of Athena's shield.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.italymagazine.com/dual-language/what-does-symbol-sicily-mean | title=What Does the Symbol of Sicily Mean? | work=Italy Magazine}}</ref>

Palermo and Corleone were the first two cities to found a confederation against the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevin]] rule. The triskeles symbol came to be on the Sicilian flag in 1943 during [[World War II]] when [[Andrea Finocchiaro Aprile]] led an independence movement, in collaboration with the allies. Their plan was to help Sicily become independent and form a free republic. The colours, likewise introduced in the 1940s, respectively represent the cities of [[Palermo]] and [[Corleone]]. The separatist behind the movement used a yellow and red flag with the Trinacria in the centre of it. When [[World War II]] ended, Sicily was recognized as an autonomous region in the Italian Republic.

The flag became the official public flag of the ''Regione Siciliana'' in January 2000, after the passing of an apposite regional law which advocates its use on public buildings, schools and city halls along with the national [[Flag of Italy|Italian flag]] and the [[flag of EU|European]] one.

Familiar as an ancient symbol of the region, the [[Triskelion]] is also featured on Greek coins of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]], such as coins of [[Agathocles]] (317–289 BC).The symbol dates back to when Sicily was part of [[Magna Graecia]], the colonial extension of [[Greece]] beyond the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]].<ref>Matthews, Jeff (2005) [http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/symbols.htm Symbols of Naples] {{webarchive | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030202145/http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/symbols.htm | date = 30 October 2009}}</ref> The triskelion was revived, as a [[neoclassicism|neoclassic]] – and non-[[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] – emblem for the new Napoleonic Kingdom of the [[Two Sicilies]], by [[Joachim Murat]] in 1808. In the case of Sicily, the triskelion symbol is said to represent the three [[Cape (geography)|capes]] ([[headland]]s or [[promontory|promontories]] of the island of Sicily, namely: [[Punta del Faro|Pelorus]] (Peloro, Tip of Faro, Messina: North-East); [[Capo Passero|Pachynus]] (Passero, Syracuse: South); and [[Marsala|Lilybæum]] (Lilibeo, Cape Boeo, Marsala: West), which form three points of a triangle.<ref>Radicini, Ninni. "The Trinacria: History and Mythology | The Symbol of the Hellenic Nature of Sicily | Article by Ninni Radicini." The Trinacria: History and Mythology | The Symbol of the Hellenic Nature of Sicily | Article by Ninni Radicini. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 November 2014.</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:2009-03-22 03-29 Sizilien 683 Agrigent, Parco Valle dei Templi Agrigento, Museo Archaeologico.jpg|[[Triskelion]] painted on [[Ancient Greek art|Ancient Greek]] vase, [[Agrigento]]
File:The triskelion symbol of Sicily.jpg|The Triskelion symbol of Sicily
</gallery>