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Description
"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up for treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter."
- Epistle of James, 5:1-6

The seeds of the Kingdom of Italy's downfall were sown in the First World War. Initially hesitant to honour their alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, the latter began secret negotiations in an attempt to maintain the Triple Alliance. British military intelligence caught wind of this and, fearing that Italy might join the war against them, began funding anti-war Italian political groups, primarily pacifistic socialist radicals. This had little effect on Italy's decision to declare war, but after the smoke had cleared and hundreds of thousands of Italians lay dead at French and British hands Italy found itself a country weary of war, and British funding had given the socialists a foothold. Despite this it wasn't until the early 1930s that socialism truly took off in the country. Two factors are considered key for the historic surge in socialist popularity: the Great Depression, and Giacomoismo.

Whilst elsewhere socialism was a specifically atheistic ideology, in Italy it had become intertwined with the non-violent teachings of Jesus, and an anti-capitalist interpretation of Christianity. Known as Giacomoismo - named after James (Giacomo) the Just, brother of Christ, whose writings (including the quote found above) influenced the foundation of the ideology - this form of socialism emphasised non-violence, believing that war served only to harm the proletariat and enrich the bourgeoisie. The Giacomoists' powerbase was in the South, where class divisions were strong and the poor were subject to rampant economic and political exploitation. The impact of the Great Depression brought poverty to every corner of Italy, however, and with it dissatisfaction with traditional ideologies. By 1932 the Giacomoists had gained the loyalty of millions of Italians from the North and South, and used this power to launch a co-ordinated series of labour strikes and various other non-violent protests. The government's response was swift and bloody. Though non-violence was central to the Giacomoist philosophy, thousands of poor labourers being imprisoned, beaten, abused, and killed provoked many, reluctantly, to violent resistance.

Day by day the situation escalated. Protests turned into riots; riots into revolution. After months of bloody skirmishes and embarrassing losses, the King saw the writing on the wall and conceded defeat to the socialists, fleeing the country shortly thereafter. Though monarchists and anti-socialist militias would continue to be a problem throughout the 30s and 40s, the socialists had won.

Swiftly a provisional government was formed, a constitution written, and elections held. The new Italian Republic was democratic in character, but Giacomoism was at the heart of its new constitution with protections for civil and human rights acting as an unshakable foundation.

Italy's flag would change several times during this period, before finally settling on a design known affectionately as La Bandiera Bianca. The white field of the flag represented peace and non-violence, and Italy's dedication to such. The Italian tricolour was found in the lower left, but had taken on new meaning: the green represented the land of Italy, the white represented the peace that had been brought to Italy, and the red represented the socialist society that peace would transform Italy into. In the upper left was the emblem of the new government. The circle of an olive branch, a gear, and sheaves of wheat represented peace, progress, and plenty respectively in a self-sustaining circle - peace brought progress, progress brought plenty, and plenty brought peace. In the centre was a traditional bow saw - a symbol of manual labour and the physical toil of the proletariat, but primarily meant as a symbol for Saint James himself, due to a belief that his body was sawn apart following he was martyred. The bow saw was also chosen as the shape of its wooden frame formed an IH monogram - an ancient symbol of Christianity, and an indication that the government intended to return to Christ's original teachings.

***

A flag I made for the Weekly Flag Challenge over on AH.com. Since the challenge was to make a socialist flag without conventional symbols (hammer and sickle, red star) I decided to try a rarely discussed form of the ideology - Christian socialism. I wish I'd had time to redo some parts of the emblem - especially the saw, as it's kinda done in a different art style than the rest of it - but on the whole I'm really happy with how it came out.

Description
"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up for treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter."
- Epistle of James, 5:1-6

The seeds of the Kingdom of Italy's downfall were sown in the First World War. Initially hesitant to honour their alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, the latter began secret negotiations in an attempt to maintain the Triple Alliance. British military intelligence caught wind of this and, fearing that Italy might join the war against them, began funding anti-war Italian political groups, primarily pacifistic socialist radicals. This had little effect on Italy's decision to declare war, but after the smoke had cleared and hundreds of thousands of Italians lay dead at French and British hands Italy found itself a country weary of war, and British funding had given the socialists a foothold. Despite this it wasn't until the early 1930s that socialism truly took off in the country. Two factors are considered key for the historic surge in socialist popularity: the Great Depression, and Giacomoismo.

Whilst elsewhere socialism was a specifically atheistic ideology, in Italy it had become intertwined with the non-violent teachings of Jesus, and an anti-capitalist interpretation of Christianity. Known as Giacomoismo - named after James (Giacomo) the Just, brother of Christ, whose writings (including the quote found above) influenced the foundation of the ideology - this form of socialism emphasised non-violence, believing that war served only to harm the proletariat and enrich the bourgeoisie. The Giacomoists' powerbase was in the South, where class divisions were strong and the poor were subject to rampant economic and political exploitation. The impact of the Great Depression brought poverty to every corner of Italy, however, and with it dissatisfaction with traditional ideologies. By 1932 the Giacomoists had gained the loyalty of millions of Italians from the North and South, and used this power to launch a co-ordinated series of labour strikes and various other non-violent protests. The government's response was swift and bloody. Though non-violence was central to the Giacomoist philosophy, thousands of poor labourers being imprisoned, beaten, abused, and killed provoked many, reluctantly, to violent resistance.

Day by day the situation escalated. Protests turned into riots; riots into revolution. After months of bloody skirmishes and embarrassing losses, the King saw the writing on the wall and conceded defeat to the socialists, fleeing the country shortly thereafter. Though monarchists and anti-socialist militias would continue to be a problem throughout the 30s and 40s, the socialists had won.

Swiftly a provisional government was formed, a constitution written, and elections held. The new Italian Republic was democratic in character, but Giacomoism was at the heart of its new constitution with protections for civil and human rights acting as an unshakable foundation.

Italy's flag would change several times during this period, before finally settling on a design known affectionately as La Bandiera Bianca. The white field of the flag represented peace and non-violence, and Italy's dedication to such. The Italian tricolour was found in the lower left, but had taken on new meaning: the green represented the land of Italy, the white represented the peace that had been brought to Italy, and the red represented the socialist society that peace would transform Italy into. In the upper left was the emblem of the new government. The circle of an olive branch, a gear, and sheaves of wheat represented peace, progress, and plenty respectively in a self-sustaining circle - peace brought progress, progress brought plenty, and plenty brought peace. In the centre was a traditional bow saw - a symbol of manual labour and the physical toil of the proletariat, but primarily meant as a symbol for Saint James himself, due to a belief that his body was sawn apart following he was martyred. The bow saw was also chosen as the shape of its wooden frame formed an IH monogram - an ancient symbol of Christianity, and an indication that the government intended to return to Christ's original teachings.

***

A flag I made for the Weekly Flag Challenge over on AH.com. Since the challenge was to make a socialist flag without conventional symbols (hammer and sickle, red star) I decided to try a rarely discussed form of the ideology - Christian socialism. I wish I'd had time to redo some parts of the emblem - especially the saw, as it's kinda done in a different art style than the rest of it - but on the whole I'm really happy with how it came out.