BRIEF HISTORY THE CONSORZIO PER LA TUTELA DEL PALIO DI SIENA

The first case promoted to defend the image of the Contrade (Districts) and of the Palio of Siena dates back to 1977, when, by decree of the Praetor of Asti, many postcards promoting “ Medieval Asti” were seized since they were improperly using recreations of the alfieri (flag wavers) from the Historical Parade.

In this case, as in many others at that time, it was primarily a matter of protecting the image of certain people as well as Districts’ coat of arms, emblems and colors, for which the nature of legal people of ancient law had already been acquired.

From a Guido Iappini’s forward-looking idea, then rector of the Magistrate of the Districts, in June 1981 the Consorzio per la Tutela del Palio di Siena was born as a cooperative limited liability association; he was also registered with the Chamber of Commerce.

The decision was taken after the unanimous manifestation of the General Assemblies of People of the 17 Districts simultaneously convened. It determined the birth of an autonomous entity which is qualified to safeguard the inside and the outside image and dignity of the Palio, and legally capable to be the Magistrate’s “ executive arm” and capable of financial work too.

It was immediately decided to prohibit the use of Districts’ images by third parties for advertising purposes and to prevent the misuse for touristic purposes.

The first two clamorous cases followed by the CTPS, both in 1984 and juridically important, were the Poster of the Palio of Avigliana, with the Page-boy of the Lupa District and the second one was an advertising insert on Vogue with an alfiere (flag waver) from the Chiocciola District wearing pants and sweater rather than the traditional costume worn by all the participants of the Palio of Siena. In both cases, Milan and Turin court judgments in 1992 with their judicial authority, recognized the active legitimacy to the affected people and also to the Municipality of Siena, the Palio organizer, to the Districts, to the Magistrate and especially to the Consortium. The consorzio itself was born exactly with the purpose of safeguarding intangible heritage constituting the traditional assets of the Districts. The same results were achieved against the Gatorade advertising in 1990, where an alfiere’s flag from the Valdimontone District was located near the company logo. In 1991 a similar case was against Gucci, which commercialized products reproducing emblems and flags of the Districts. In 1994 the phone card SIP reproducing the Tartuca alfiere (flag waver) was withdrawn after the consorzio intervention, without the necessity for legal action.

The first “victories” were gained out of court proceeding with a damage claim. They won thanks to the free legal assistance of Professor Marco Comporti and these victories later allowed the consorzio to commission and realize funerary monuments for the deceased districts’ members who are buried in the Laterino and the Misericordia cemeteries, to whom it is a tradition that Districts pay homage during their Titular Feasts. In 1993 the purchase of the trailer/chariot for injured horses was made, provided by the Municipality of Siena on the occasion of the Palio. From 1997 the CTPS also partly provided for the parade horse supply for the Historical Parade. In May 1998 the warehouse in Badesse where the Palio’s stages are stored was bought, later in 2003 the wooden frame with which it is built the stage 30 bis in the Bargello Alley was bought too.

In 2004 the Consorzio began a prevalent mutual Cooperative Society, that is to say without any speculative purpose, but exclusively aimed at carrying out some activities in favor of the 17 partner Districts. This aim resulted in a considerable amount of collective purchases of materials, works of art, accessories and furniture granted to the Districts on permanent loan. In 2006 the insurance policies for the 17 Districts were significantly upgraded. The consorzio had begun to stipulate these policies since 1999 and still provides for them. However, from 2015 costs, which had been entirely supported by the CTPS until then, are now almost entirely borne by the Districts.

In the new statute of 2004 the two figures of the CEOs of the Brand Area and the Communication and Image Area were introduced for the first time. They are usually ex Priori (Districts’ Rectors) or Districts’ experts, who voluntarily carry on all the activities which were accomplished by councilors divided into two Committees until then. All the actions implemented by the CEOs are negotiated with the Chairman and the entire board of directors, which mostly consists of Priori (Districts’ Rectors) in charge. On the other hand, the administration is entrusted to the two Secretaries, which grant their daily attendance in the office and also represent the CTPS historical memory.

This organizational structure became necessary in 2003, especially after the choice to record the 17 Districts’ coats of arms and the Districts’ Magistrate emblem as national trademarks and the consorzio emblem as collective guarantee mark, at first on a national scale and later on communitarian and international scale. This is how it was completed the implementation of all the necessary tools for the safeguard and the possibility of control on the products which use in some way the Palio and the Districts’ image.

In 2006 it was renovated the registration of the consorzio logo at international European level, two years later in Japan and in the USA too. In 2013 it was renovated the registration of the Districts’ logos and colors, of the Magistrate’s logo, of the Consortium’s logo in Italy and of the Consortium’s logo in the USA too, everything with a ten-year maturity. The mark registration turned out essential for many important actions, such as the action against the Sony Company which was forced to remove all the Districts’ flags inserted in the video game Gran Turismo 5, whose release consequently shifted due to the Consortium’s intervention.

Currently the Brand Area deals with the registration of the trademark and its granting, the authorization to produce objets reproducing emblems and colors of the 17 Districts with commercial purposes and the control of the inappropriate and unauthorized use of these emblems (except for art production with unique character). On the other hand, the Image Area deals with television, cinema, publishing industry, multimedial productions, documentaries, collaboration for bachelor's thesis, relationships with the press and live TV broadcast.

Originally, the consorzio did not deal with the images production: the RAI came to Siena and autonomously made the Palio live, recognising a small contribution for the Consortium. The live show on Channel 3 was made autonomously too. After the definitive visibility that the consorzio had acquired in Siena, and beyond, thanks to the Conference of the Decade (a conference where all the Consortium’s members gather and discuss the goals achieved in the previous ten years). 1994 marked an important stage for the growth of the CTPS which, after the first experimental agreement between the Municipality, the Magistrate and the consorzio and after the assignment received from the Municipal Administration and the Districts; the consorzio started to manage autonomously the television broadcasting of the Palio and of all the events related to it, providing to the involved operators the images produced; then it concluded a contract with the RAI that from that moment only employs the images produced by the CTPS.

In these first steps of production, the consorzio benefited from the advice and the technical support of Franco Masoni and Canale 3 Toscana, with the help of different companies which provided for every kind of need, and technically coordinated on behalf of the CTPS by Carlo Mormile and later by Silvia Folchi. The live show was broadcasted from the Circolo degli Uniti terrace. In 2002 the consorzio produces images using a service for the first time, breaking free from the support of third party technicians, autonomously choosing the director and the speaker of the program. From that moment many directors followed one another such as, Gigli in 2002, Domenichini in 2003, Madioni from 2004 to 2012, then again Domenichini until now.

The live show has always been acquired by the RAI; only exception in 1995, when the Palio in July was broadcasted by Mediaset Channel 5 and the Palio in August by Telemontecarlo.

All the institutional material that belongs to the consorzio is stored in the digital archives, enriched with video and documentaries produced by the consorzio itself and with the recording of transmissions and productions to whom the CTPS granted the authorization and offered support.