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Travel | Sardinia | Italy
In Sardinia, Four (Decapitated) Heads are Better Than One
The bloody history of the Sardinian Flag
I am on a catamaran setting out from the port of Olbia, Sardinia, and I am puzzled and shocked by the presence of decapitated heads seemingly everywhere.
There they are above the ramparts of an ancient castle.
And again above a fifteenth-century church.
And, it seems, nearly every vessel coming and going from Olbia proudly displays these decapitations from their bows.
What in the name of St. George is going on in this idyllic, sun-splashed Mediterranean isle?
I’m talking about the Sardinian flag, of course, which the famously independent Sardinians hoist with pride at every opportunity.
The flag features the heads of four black men, possibly warriors or princes, with white headbands tied around their foreheads.
Each head is displayed against a field of white within a quadrant created by the red Cross of St. George.
So why is this flag enthusiastically embraced by Sardinians when its appearance would surely be labeled as politically incorrect in the U.S., thus igniting a social media firestorm?