Biscione as a symbol of 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?

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.

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