Scudetto

Lore & Background

The scudetto was created in the 1920s to honour the winner of the national association football league (in 1929 rebranded as Serie A) and the first team to wear it was Genoa in 1924. Sources generally agree that Italian poet and playwright Gabriele D'Annunzio was the inventor of the scudetto. In 1920, the former Austro-Hungarian city of Fiume (now the Croatian Rijeka) was annexed to Italy. Following this event, D'Annunzio proposed that the local football team acknowledge supporting the Italian sovereignty over the city with a tricolored shield of green, white and red on their jerseys. In 1924, the Italian Football Federation approved the decision to honour the defending champions allowing them to wear the scudetto on their jerseys. The Italian rugby union championship which started in 1928 became the second league to adopt the scudetto on a team's jersey to indicate a title-holding team. Since then, the scudetto has become the symbol of the defending champions of every sports league in Italy. Between 1936 and 1943, the Savoyard scudetto was awarded to the Serie A champion; the Coppa Italia winner received a tricolour scudetto.

In Their Own Story

The rain fell softly on the pitch as the final whistle blew, sealing another title for the Bianconeri. In the locker room, the noise was deafening, a mix of cheers and tears. The captain walked out to present the new jerseys for the upcoming season. There it was, stitched proudly over the heart: the Scudetto. It gleamed under the floodlights, a small shield carrying the weight of decades of history, reminding everyone that they were not just players, but custodians of the greatest legacy in Italian sport.

Reader's Guide

The word scudetto is also used to indicate the Serie A trophy; 'winning the scudetto' is a synonym of 'winning Serie A'.

Did You Know?

• The first team to wear the scudetto was Genoa in 1924.
• Gabriele D'Annunzio proposed the tricolored shield for a football team in Fiume in 1920.
• Other countries including Portugal and Turkey also have their reigning champions wear a national symbol on their chests.