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Cadenazzo commune (Ticino canton, Switzerland)

image located by Martin Karner

Azure a Pale Argent and overall a Castle embattled parti-coloured Gules and Or.
Christopher Southworth

The pole refers to the important road connecting the three centers Bellinzona, Lugano and Locarno. The gate remembers the castle that was destroyed in the Italian wars.

On 14 March 2005 Cadenazzo merged with Robasacco (see below), keeping its name and emblem. On 19 June 2006 the municipal council decreed a modification of the emblem: In order to represent the new fraction of Robasacco, the right tower became yellow, while the left one remained red, representing the fraction of Cadenazzo. (source)

See also:

Cadenazzo (until 18 June 2006)

image by Pascal Gross

Azure a Pale Argent and overall a Castle embatteled Gules.
Željko Heimer, 13 January 2003

Robasacco (until 13 March 2005)

image by Pascal Gross

Azure an Arm embowed issuant from dexter clead Gules holding a Moneybag Or.
Željko Heimer, 16 January 2003

The flag of Robasacco is canting. From ruba (third person of the verb rubare = to steal) and sacco (bag, sack).
Pascal Gross, 15 January 2003

The region of the Monte Ceneri pass and especially the village of Robasacco were inhabited by brigands for centuries.
Travelers on the international route over the Monte Ceneri were attacked and robbed. On the night of October 12th to 13th,
1864, the last stagecoach robbery took place. It had ten passengers. During the attack in the Robasacco forest, the traveler
Luigi Lattuada was killed by a pistol shot while attempting to escape. Postilion Pietro Berta was left disfigured on the chin
after being injured by a pistol. The leader of the robbers was Costantino Gianotti. After the other perpetrators, he was the
last to be caught in Milan and sentenced to death on November 22, 1866. However, the judgment was not carried out. (source, source)

This emblem is proved since 1673 (Codice Cremosano), which makes it one of the most extraordinary emblems ever
(together with the name). What was behind this embarrassing self-exposure as "bandits' land"? Was it a kind of pride?
Rebellion? Or was it imposed to them by their rulers as a warning or punishment? A marketing gimmick is out of question for those times.

Martin Karner

See also: Monteceneri commune