National symbols of Italy  National symbols of Italy are the symbols that uniquely identify Italy reflecting its history and culture. They are used to represent the Nation through emblems, metaphors, personifications, allegories, which are shared by the entire Italian people. Some of them are official, ie they are recognized by the Italian state authorities, while others are part of the identity of the country without being defined by law. The three main official symbols, whose typology is present in the symbology of all nations, are:  Of these only the flag is explicitly mentioned in the Italian Constitution; this normative insertion puts the flag under the protection of the law, making it possible criminal penalties for contempt of the same. Other official symbols, as reported by the Presidency of the Italian Republic, are:  The teaching in the schools of the Il Canto degli Italiani, the reflection on the Risorgimento events and on the adoption of the Flag of Italy are prescribed by law n. 222 of November 23, 2012. There are also other symbols or emblems of Italy which, although not defined by law, are part of the Italian identity:   The Vittorio Emanuele II Monument () or (Mole del) Vittoriano, improperly called Altare della Patria (English: "Altar of the Fatherland"), is a monument built in honor of Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. It is currently managed by the Polo Museale del Lazio, the Italian Ministry of Defense and the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento Italiano. From an architectural point of view it was conceived as a modern "forum", an agora on three levels connected by stairways and dominated by a portico characterized by a colonnade. The complex process of national unity and liberation from foreign domination carried out by King Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy, to whom the monument is dedicated, has a great symbolic and representative value, being architecturally and artistically centered on the Italian unification: for this reason the Vittoriano is considered one of the national symbols of Italy. It also preserves the Altar of the Fatherland (), first an altar of the goddess Rome and then also a "shrine" of the Italian Unknown Soldier, thus adopting the function of a lay temple consecrated to Italy. Because of its great representative value, the entire Vittoriano is often erroneously called the Altare della Patria, although the latter constitutes only a part of it.