History of the Amaranth Basque and the Frieze of the Folgore

The 10 June 1967 represents a watershed date for the History of the Italian Parachutists. On that day the Parachute Brigade received authorisation to use the name 'Thunderbolt'. A direct tribute to the Parachute Division Folgorewho had written one of the most glorious pages of our military history in the sands of El Alamein in 1942.

But tradition does not stop at names. The identity of a department also passes through the visual symbols representing it, and it was at that time that two fundamental elements were introduced, which every Italian paratrooper still wears with great pride today:

• The amaranth beret
• The metal frieze with parachute and dagger

The Basco Amaranto: the headgear of those who attack from the sky

Adoption of the Basque Amaranth - occurred on 1 July 1967 in San Rossore, in province of Pisa, al termine dell’esercitazione con aviolancio “Aquila Rossa” - was not a random choice. In line with a established international traditionwho wants the instantly recognisable elite troops by the colour of one's headgear, even Italy chose a distinctive colour for its Paratroopers

The amaranth beretalready the symbol of British air forces and other special forces around the world, became the hallmark of the Italian Paras. Not a simple uniform element, but a value symbolselection, hard training and belonging to a brotherhood that extends beyond time and beyond generations.

The frieze: designed by the wearer of the beret

In that context of changea young paratrooper serving with the Pisa 'Gamerra' Barracks Command Company, Giulio Renzo Sarricahe was commissioned to designing the new frieze for the Basco Amaranto.

The choice did not fall on just any designer, but on a department's militarya Parà, an 'insider', who knew from the inside the spirit and meaning of what was to be represented. The result was a work technical, precise and symbolically powerfulbased on a geometric structure built from the circletestimony to the discipline, harmony and centrality of the paratrooper in the Armed Forces structure.

The friezedesigned for realisation in metal die-casting, shows a open parachute with perfectly symmetrical sails, in the centre of which is a vertical dagger - symbol of readiness, determination and offensive strength. A design that, in a few strokes, succeeds in condensing the essence of the paratrooper: a man of assault, but also a soldier who is precise, determined and ready to operate in complex conditions.

The project, realised in 1967 by Sarrica, is fully part of the iconographic history of the Folgore.

The 'ward flea': a heartfelt and respected variant

In subsequent years, a variant: the frieze with l’aggiunta della “pulce”or the department-specific symbol of membership (e.g. 183rd, 186th, 187th for Regiments, and 2nd, 5th, etc. for Battalions) entered within the original design.

This version is worn with equal prideas it allows the Paras to make one's own history and journey visible within the Folgore.

It is not just metal: it is belonging

The amaranth beret and frieze are not accessories. They are honour, sacrifice, brotherhood, bravery. They represent hours and days of training, of launches, of tests passed.

Wearing them does not only mean belonging to an elite corps: it means wearing on our heads and in our hearts the history of those who have gone before usof those who also immolated themselves fino all’estremo sacrificio per l’Italia e con la Folgore nel cuoreand at the same time assume the moral responsibility to honour that past every day.

The frieze conceived by Parachutist Giulio Sarrica at 1967 is a extraordinary example of military art e tradition of the Folgorea work capable of encapsulating, in a metal symbol, l'soul of the Folgore.