View source for Scudetto

{{Short description|Decoration worn by Italian sports club}}
{{Italics title}}
[[File:Scudetto.svg|thumb|150px|The ''scudetto'']]
The '''''scudetto''''' ({{IPA|it|skuˈdetto|lang}}; [[Italian language|Italian]] for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the [[flag of Italy]] which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous season. The ''scudetto'' was created in the 1920s to honour the [[List of Italian football champions|winner]] of the national association football league (in 1929 rebranded as [[Serie A]]) and the first team to wear it was [[Genoa CFC|Genoa]] in 1924. Later, it was adopted by the teams of other sports.
The word ''scudetto'' is [[Metonymy|also used to indicate]] the Serie A trophy; "winning the ''scudetto''" is a synonym of "winning Serie A".
== Origin ==
[[File:Gianluigi Buffon (31784615942) (cropped).jpg|thumb|150px|[[Gianluigi Buffon]] in 2016, wearing the ''scudetto'' won with [[Juventus FC|Juventus]] the season prior. Also present in the image on the left is the ''[[Cockade of Italy#Sport|coccarda tricolore]]'', worn by the current holders of the [[Coppa Italia]].]]
Sources generally agree that the inventor of the ''scudetto'' was the Italian poet and playwright [[Gabriele D'Annunzio]]. In his youth, D'Annunzio was a keen follower of football and in 1887 he bought a leather ball  in [[London]] from the same manufacturer that supplied the [[English Football League|Football League]]<ref name="Gazzetta">{{cite news|first=Paolo|last=Pierangelo|date=8 April 2013|title=150 anni di D'Annunzio, l'ideatore dello scudetto sulle maglie da gioco|trans-title=D'Annunzio's 150th Birthday: He Was the Inventor of the ''scudetto'' on Sports Jerseys|url=http://www.fantagazzetta.com/blogs/18_04_2013/150-anni-di-dannunziolideatore-dello-scudetto-sulle-maglie-da-gioco-170340|language=it|newspaper=[[la Gazzetta dello Sport]]|location=[[Milan]]|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> and would play football with his friends on the beach of his native [[Pescara]].<ref name="Gazzetta"/>
In 1920, the former Austro-Hungarian city of [[Rijeka|Fiume]] (now the [[Croatia]]n [[Rijeka]]) was annexed to Italy, and D'Annunzio proposed that the local football team acknowledge supporting the Italian sovereignty over the city with a [[Flag of Italy|tricolored]] shield of [[green]], [[white]] and [[red]] on their jerseys.<ref name="Gazzetta"/><ref name="Focus">{{cite news|url=http://www.focus.it/cultura/storia/inventore-scudetto-d-annunzio|title=Chi ha inventato lo Scudetto?|trans-title=Who Invented the ''scudetto''?|date=25 April 2016|first=Roberto|last=Graziosi|access-date=9 December 2016|newspaper=[[Focus (Italian magazine)|Focus]]}}</ref>
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 [[Top10 (rugby union)|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.
Other countries including [[Portuguese Football Federation|Portugal]] and [[Turkish Football Federation|Turkey]] also have their reigning champions wear a national symbol on their chests.
== See also ==
* [[Cockade of Italy]]
* [[Crest (sports)]]
* [[Star (sport badge)|Star (football badge)]]
== References ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Sport in Italy}}
{{National symbols of Italy}}
[[Category:National championships in Italy]]
[[Category:Sport in Italy]]
[[Category:Sports symbols]]
[[Category:Sports terminology]]
[[Category:Gabriele D'Annunzio]]
[[Category:National symbols of Italy]]