("To Bonaparte Liberator") to the Reggio protagonists of the battle of Montechiarugolo. The title page of this poem reads: Vincenzo Monti dedicated these verses from his cantica In morte di Lorenzo Mascheroni ("On the death of Lorenzo Mascheroni") to the event: Moreover, in Reggio Emilia, in August 1796, one of the first liberty pole had been planted. This event, which arose from a revolt against the ducal government on 20 August 1796 in Reggio, contributed, together with the events linked to the battle of Montechiarugolo, to the decision to choose Reggio Emilia as the venue for the cispadane congress, the assembly that then led to the birth of the flag of Italy. As a symbolic recognition of the Montechiarugolo clash, and for the event related to the tree of liberty, Napoleon suggested to the deputies of the Cispadan cities (Reggio, Modena, Bologna and Ferrara) to gather for their first congress assembly on 27 December 1796 in Reggio Emilia. The congresses of the Cispadane Republic and the adoption of the tricolour The proposal was followed despite controversy with the other cities of Emilia, which wanted the assembly organized in their own municipality; the congress of 27 December took place then in the Reggio town hall designed by Bolognini which was to house the archive of the former duchy. Here, 110 delegates chaired by Carlo Facci approved the constitutional charter of the Cispadane Republic, including the territories of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena and Reggio Emilia. For this reason the salon of the Bolognini was renamed "centumvirate congress hall" or "patriotic hall". In another session, dated 30 December 1796, the congress had approved a motion, amidst shower of applause such was the fervor of the delegates, which read: In subsequent meetings, which always took place in the "hall of the congress centumvirate" of Reggio, many decisions were decreed and formalized, including the choice of the emblem of the newly formed republic. To put forward the proposal for the adoption of a green, white and red national flag was Giuseppe Compagnoni, who for this reason is remembered as the "father of the Italian flag", in the XIV session of the cispadane congress of 7 January 1797. The adoption decree states: The final choice of a green, white and red flag was not without a prior discussion. Instead of the green, the Italian Jacobins favoured the blue of the French flag, while the members of the