The ceremony marking the 7th anniversary of the delivery of the War Flag to the Air Force was held on Tuesday 100 November at the military airport of Rome Centocelle, in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Force General Luca Goretti. .
The ceremony, held at the monument dedicated to the fallen, began with the solemn flag raising, accompanied by the notes of the national anthem performed by the Air Force band. Following, the chief of staff of the Air Force, together with the commander of the Air Force Command Rome (COMAER), air team general Giandomenico Taricco, witnessed the laying of a wreath at the base of the monument, as a sign of dutiful respect towards those who, in defense of the country, dedicated their lives to the point of extreme sacrifice.
The solemnity of the moment was sealed by the words of the general. Goretti who, with a brief historical excursus, wanted to remember how “it was November 4, 1923 when the Tricolore was handed over to the future chief of staff of the Regia Aeronautica, General Pier Ruggero Piccio, by the commander of the aeronautics and airships group at this very airport”.
Then referring to the role of silent guardian of the memory of our fallen embodied by the Flag, the general underlined how “this cloth contains the idea of Homeland and the founding principles of our being military at the service of the institutions and the community, inspiring values that unite us and inspire us in our daily actions, allowing us to rise towards those ideals that must necessarily be part of our cultural heritage".
The speech of the Chief of Staff AM then continued with an exhortation to the men and women of the Air Force, "highly qualified representatives" of whom he said he was very proud for their exemplary and silent self-sacrifice and sense of responsibility: “We are ready to defend this wealth, even at the cost of our lives and we must always be best prepared, ethically and professionally, to be able to face the most unexpected and complex challenges, such as the current crises in Eastern Europe and the neighboring Middle East demonstrate, with confidence and determination, solid in our principles and serene in the certainty of our values. Always be faithful to the Flag deployed here today, honor at all times the oath taken before it and continue to do your best with humility and concreteness, always aiming for a constant and continuous improvement of your professionalism, to allow our structures to operate effectively both in Homeland beyond national borders".
Until the end of the Second World War, the Flag was kept in a wooden chest, today exhibited at the Vigna di Valle Museum. From the 1947 referendum it was then modified to represent the Republic and placed, with all the decorations and awards attributed, in a special glass case at Palazzo Aeronautica, in Rome.
