Biscione as a symbol of Milan

Biscione | Milan

The emblem of Visconti, is the symbol of Milan

Biscione as a symbol of Milan. The symbol of the city of Milan is the biscione, a snake in the act of consuming a child, which was the emblem of the House of Visconti for centuries.

As the symbol of Milan, the biscione is also associated with the football club Inter Milan, the car manufacturer Alfa Romeo and the logo of the private television network Canale 5 (Channel 5).

Where does this symbol come from?

Castello Sforzesco | Biscione

The biscione as a symbol of Milan in the Castello Sforzesco.

According to the legend, Ottone Visconti in 1100, during the Second Crusade, led an army of Milanese citizens in the siege of Jerusalem, and challenged the cruel Saracen Voluce to a duel. Voluce’s coat of arms was a snake devouring a man.
Ottone killed the Saracen, took his weapons and his symbol and brought it to Milan and decided to adopt the warrior’s coat of arm as his own.
The symbol of the House of Visconti was born and the biscione as a symbol of Milan.

The man consumed by the snake was replaced by a red Saracen and later became a child, with the aim of showing the goodness of the Visconti’s snake.
There are other legends about the origin of the biscione, but this is my favourite one, and I think about it every time I see the symbol around the city.

READ ALSO: the story of another symbol of Milan, the Bull of the Milan Gallery, but might also like my post on Carmagnola Palace, now houses the Piccolo Teatro of Milan, which started life in the period in which governed the city i Visconti.

Central Station | Biscione | Milan

The biscione as a symbol of Milan in the Central Station.

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12 thoughts on “Biscione as a symbol of Milan

  1. In my opinion, the meaning of this symbol used in the Visconti family and alfa romeo logo is this:
    As we have already mentioned, Kundalini is a female energy, rising upward from the “main native” path called “Soushumna”, rising upward in head and chakra seventh. Chakra crown Or the seventh contains male energy, and due to the combination of kundalini and crown chakra energies in the area of ​​the skull, there is an internal fertilization that will open the third eye.
    In this picture is a baby’s birth, which means the opening of the third eye. Very nice and allegorical address. At the same time, pay attention to the seven-step chakra and snake body screws
    ps: The snake usually does not blow your bait off the legs.

  2. This was a symbol used in the catacombs in Rome by early Christians. It symbolised Jonah coming out of the mouth of a sea serpent. This was symbolic of Jesus rising after 3 days. It’s assumed that the Visconti used it as a political statement that they were aligned with a primitive Chistianity that was pre-Catholic. They were constantly at odds with the papacy.

    • Symbols, like this, always have a mysterious birth. The assumptions are many but what is certain is that even today it is used as a symbol of power and it is no coincidence that Silvio Berlusconi has chosen him as the logo of his company since the eighties.

    • The sea serpent indeed was the whale. The story of Jona, Lasurus and Christ are all in the tomb for 3 days…he who emerges is reborn anew in the spirit…hence the childbis used.
      The motto if the Viscontis ….I will not forsake the moral code of the viper ….is in direct relation to the sacred spiritual rite not to be disclosed to those who are not morally and spiritually prepared.

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