Bandiera Rossa

For the Italian Trotskyist association, see Bandiera Rossa Association (Italy).

Not to be confused with The Red Flag.

Bandiera Rossa (Italian for "Red Flag"), often also called Avanti Popolo after its opening words, is one of the most famous songs of the Italian labour movement. It glorifies the red flag, symbol of the socialist and communist movement. The text was written by Carlo Tuzzi in 1908; the melody is taken from two Lombard folk songs.

Apart from the first Italian text, there are several variants which are identified with certain socialist or communist parties. The last two lines "Evviva il comunismo e la libertà" were put in the text after the rise of Benito Mussolini; at the same time the original beginning "Compagni avanti alla riscossa" was changed to "Avanti o popolo, alla riscossa". Also, the word "comunismo" at the end of the chorus is often replaced with "socialismo", especially in more recent renderings of the song.

Bandiera Rossa was notably quoted in Frederic Rzewski's piano work The People United Will Never Be Defeated!.

Notable covers of the song were made by the Slovenian punk-rock band Pankrti in 1984 on the Rdeči album (Red album), as well as the Croatian punk-rock band KUD Idijoti in 1990, on their album Mi smo ovdje samo zbog para (We are only here for the money).

From the song's opening words is derived the title of the 1986 Israeli film Avanti Popolo. The film's protagonists - very non-heroic Israeli and Egyptian soldiers wandering the Sinai Desert in the aftermath of the 1967 War - in one scene sing the song in a rather facetious way.

Excerpt from the text

First verse: Avanti o popolo, alla riscossa, Bandiera rossa, Bandiera rossa. Avanti o popolo, alla riscossa, Bandiera rossa trionferà. Refrain: Bandiera rossa la trionferà Bandiera rossa la trionferà Bandiera rossa la trionferà Evviva il comunismo e la libertà.

Literal Translation: Forward people, to the rescue Red Flag, Red Flag Forward people, to the rescue Red Flag will triumph. Red Flag will be triumphant, Red Flag will be triumphant, Red Flag will be triumphant, Long live communism and freedom.

This version translated for marxists.org by Clara Statello and Mitchell Abidor.

Foreign language versions

One of the most widely translated Italian songs, Bandiera Rossa has been rendered in several languages including: German, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Turkish, Kurdish, Finnish, Icelandic and Russian.