Italians in revolt at new flag

Rome - Few people took notice when the Italian government decided to define last year the exact colours of the "tricolore" -- the green, red and white national flag. But the "makeover" has sparked a revolt in the last couple of days since Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's office started flying the new banner, with a slightly deeper green, a new ruby red and an ivory white.

"It's a veritable chromatic coup d'etat," said Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, president of the Green Party, which has called for a national referendum to decide on the "true colours" of the flag whose history dates back to the 1700s.

Opposition leaders say the new version with its "designer colours" is an attack on the traditional flag with its more brassy hues.

But most Italians wandering by the prime minister's offices in the centre of Rome shrugged off the facelift.

"It's not ugly even if the red is a little darker," one man said. "I don't mind, it looks like my flag." -- Reuters

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