Lombard Legion: Not yet a national flag, but a war flag, the uniform of the soldiers of the Italian Legion was of the colours "already admitted by our Lombard brothers". The civic banner of the congregation of Bologna On 19 June 1796, Bologna was occupied by Napoleonic troops. At the same time, a Civic Guard was established, which adopted a uniform identical to that of the Milanese city militia, that is a green outfit with red and white displays. On 18 October 1796, at the same time as the constitution of the Italian Legion, the pro-Napoleonic congregation of magistrates and deputy deputies of Bologna, on the third point of the discussion, decided to create a tricolour civic banner, this time detached from military use. A document preserved in the Bologna State Archives states: A resolution of the Senate of Bologna of 5 November 1796 abolished "all those badges that characterize a diversity of ranks among citizens" while prescribing that "everyone must be provided within the term of eight days and wear the French tricolour cockade or also our mixed national colours". After the adoption by the Bolognese congregation, the tricolour became a political symbol of the struggle for the independence of Italy from foreign powers, given its use also in the civil sphere, taking the name of "flag of the Italian revolution". The subsequent adoption of the Italian flag by a state body, the Cispadane Republic, was inspired by this Bolognese banner, linked to a municipal reality and therefore still having a purely local breath, and to previous military banners of the Lombard and Italian Legions. which took place on January 7, 1797. The national flag of the Cispadane Republic The premises With the invasion of Napoleon's troops, the Duke of Modena and Reggio Francesco III d'Este fled and the Reggian Republic was proclaimed (26 August 1796). At the same time the Civic Guard of the city of Reggio was constituted and this military formation, aided by a small group of French grenadiers, defeated a squad of 150 Austrian soldiers at Montechiarugolo on 4 October 1796. The victory was important — both from a political and symbolic point of view — that Napoleon made an official commendation to the Reggio soldiers who were the protagonists of the battle. For the armed clash of Montechiarugolo, Napoleon defined the city of Reggio Emilia as: Ugo Foscolo dedicated the ode A Bonaparte liberatore