I've read about this somewhere and I wonder if it's true. That the colors of the flag of Italy--red, white and green--has something to do with their national diet of pasta (pasta is {white;} tomato sauce is {red;} fresh leaves of herb is green)?

Barrow boy

It would be nice to think so! And why not a fourth yellow stripe to represent mozzarella cheese? The truth is that national flags tend to be defined by more serious traditions than the national food. In the case of the Italian flag, the origin goes back to the time before Italy was unified, and the colours of the flag are derived from the garish colour of military uniforms. In 1796 the French troops entered Lombardia under the guide of Napoleon. Following the occupation a state was formed: the Repubblica Transpadana. On 19 August 1796 the original Urban Milice, which wore green and white garments since 1782, was transformed in National Guard and its uniforms added red to the original colours. The same were used by the Legione Lombarda (Lombarda Legion) and the three colours, following a common practice at the time, were transposed to the military colors. The ensigns were green, white and red as in the current national flag of the Italian Republic. http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/it_trapa.html Jul 19 02, 9:31 AM

Kainantu

The Tricolore ( Italian flag ) was newly adopted as the emblem of patriots who provoked the uprisings of 1821 and {1831;} it was the banner of the Giovine Italia (Young Italy) The symbolic interpretation of he flag's colors represent the three cardinal virtues. These colors are explained in Dante's Divine Comedy (refer to Purgatorio, XXIX, 122-127), and were utilized in the Florentine Medici emblem showing a ring encased diamond and displaying three feathers and their respective colors. Green %96hope White- faith Red- charity http://www.cantierinformatici.it/costanza/dc/sito/dcflag.html AND... this is what you might be looking for........ The dish most associated with oregano is pizza, a kind of open pie: Bread dough topped with tasty stuff and baked. Bread of this kind was probably eaten in Southen Italy since {centuries;} according to the legend, pizza came into existence in 1889, when King Umberto and his wife Margherita sojourned in Napoli (Naples). Pizza, at this time not more than white bread flavoured with tomato paste, was then a popular food for the poor masses. To honour the Queen, a local baker devised a richer kind of pizza: In addition to the red tomato paste, white mozzarella cheese and green basil leaves were employed, thus reflecting the colours of the Italian flag. This invention became known as pizza Margherita and spread all over Italy and, with some delay, over the rest of the world. http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/generic_frame.html?Orig_vul.html Jul 19 02, 10:09 AM