[2] Depending on the historical period and - in particular - on the reigning dynasty that ruled the city, different civic banners (the so-called Vexillum civitas) followed one another, which from time to time represented the noble family that ruled the Milanese duchy, without prejudice to the preservation of the primigenial white city flag with a red cross as the official state banner (the so-called Vexillum publicum).

The shield, which is stamped with a gold or black-colored turreted crown, a symbol of the city title, has been in use in its modern form since March 19, 1934, when the relevant decree granting it was issued by the state.

Other symbols of Milan, which are not officially recognized, are the half-woollen boar, an animal linked to the legend of its founding and the city's first symbol, the so-called "Madonnina," a golden statue placed on the highest spire of Milan Cathedral representing Mary, mother of Jesus Christ (this statue is also the protagonist of the Milanese dialect song O mia bela Madunina by Giovanni D'Anzi, which is in fact considered the hymn of the city), the biscione (in Milanese dialect el bisson), portrayed in the act of swallowing or protecting, depending on the interpretation, a child or a naked man, originally a symbol of the Visconti family, Lords and then Dukes of Milan between the 13th and 15th centuries, and finally Meneghino, a character from the Milanese theater who later became a mask of the commedia dell'arte.

The coat of arms of the City of Milan is heraldically described as follows: silver (white) to the red cross, topped with a turreted crown (a golden circle opened by eight posterns), and surrounded on either side at the bottom by green laurel and oak fronds knotted with a tricolor ribbon.3.

The reasons for the awarding of the two honors are:Depending on the historical period and - in particular - on the ruling dynasty that dominated the city, different civic banners (the so-called Vexillum civitas, which could also be used as a war flag) followed one another, which from time to time represented the noble family that ruled the Milanese duchy (e.g. the blue biscione on a white field, which later became the coat of arms of the Visconti family and of the Duchy of Milan), without prejudice to the preservation of the primigenial white city flag with a red cross as the official state banner (the so-called Vexillum publicum).

[3] Legend has it that the cross was given as an insignia to the Milanese by Pope Gelasius I in the person of Alione Visconti, hypothetical fieldmaster general of the city army against Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, but this hypothesis does not stand up to historical verification.

[11] As for the cross, the Milanese chose this subject as their symbol in homage to Jesus Christ: thus it did not originate, as one might believe, from the Crusades, the Holy Roman Empire or the Papacy.

Giorgio Giulini reports in his Memoirs that the Lodi historian Ottone Morena personally saw in 1160 the Carroccio of Milan on which towered "a very large white banner with a red cross," a standard that also appeared on the Carroccio used in the Battle of Legnano (May 29, 1176), an armed clash that saw the Lombard League victorious over the army of the Holy Roman Empire led by Frederick Barbarossa.

[11] Noteworthy was the state flag of the Golden Ambrosian Republic, created in 1447 due to the heirless death of Filippo Maria Visconti.

[11] The flag of the Golden Ambrosian Republic took up the ancient Milanese crossed banner to which the figure of St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, was added.

[11] Worthy of note is an inscription dating back to 1448, which is surmounted by the coat of arms of Milan in the form of a crossed shield, found in the Casa Panigarola, a historic Milanese palace located in Piazza dei Mercanti, where it served as the "Office of the Statutes," that is, the place that provided for the registration and transcription of ducal decrees, public acts as well as determining the categories of private acts.

The inscription, which warns of all the evils that cause lawsuits in court, reads: —Tommaso da Caponago, 1448, Casa dei Panigarola, MilanoIn later centuries the coat of arms of Milan was sometimes embellished with the effigy of St. Ambrose.

Milan had, on January 9, 1813, the concession of the coat of arms, whose blazon reads: It bears the silver shield with the flat and centered cross of gules; terminated by the chief of green with the letter N of gold placed in the heart and approached by three six-leafed roses of the same; crowned by the mural crown with seven battlements, of gold, surmounted by the rising eagle in the natural, holding in its talons a golden caduceus in a band.

The whole accompanied by two interlaced festoons of olive and oak of the latter, divided between the two sides, rejoined and hanging from the tipThe chief present above the ancient coat of arms was the one of the good cities of the kingdom.

"[21] The commission, chaired by the podestà, was composed of Giovanni Vittani, Romolo Caggese, Lodovico Pogliani, Alessandro Giulini and Giorgio Nicodemi (secretary).

394 of December 10, 1944, and thus the coat of arms lost this section, which was located in the upper part of the shield,[22] retaining only the turreted crown of the city and the wreath of oak and laurel enclosed by the tricolor tie.

[24] In contrast, according to modern historians, Milan was founded around 590 B.C.,[25] possibly under the name Medhelan,[26][27][28] near a sanctuary by a Celtic tribe that was part of the Insubres group and belonged to the Golasecca culture.

The Madonnina is a golden statue placed on the highest spire of Milan Cathedral representing Mary, mother of Jesus Christ.

This statue is the protagonist of the Milanese dialect song O mia bela Madunina by Giovanni D'Anzi, which is in fact considered the city's anthem: —Giovanni D'Anzi, O mia bela MaduninaThe biscione (in Milanese dialect el bisson), portrayed in the act of swallowing or protecting, depending on the interpretation, a child or a naked man[note 2] and topped with a golden crown,[note 3] was the symbol of the Visconti family, Lords and then Dukes of Milan between the 13th and 15th centuries.

—Meneghino appears in court in Il falso filosofo (1698), act III, scene XIV[31]Meneghino is a character from Milanese theater who later became a mask in the commedia dell'arte.