Biscione

The biscione (Italian pronunciation: [biʃˈʃone]; in Milanese as the bissa), also known as the vipera ("viper"), is a heraldic charge showing in argent an azure serpent in the act of consuming a human; usually a child and sometimes described as a Moor or an Ottoman Turkish. It was the emblem of the House of Visconti from the 11th century, becoming associated with Milan as the Visconti gained control over the city in 1277. When the Visconti family died out in the 15th century, the emblem retained its association with the Duchy of Milan and became part of the coats of arms of the House of Sforza; the presence of biscione in Poland (Sanok) and Belarus (Pruzhany) is due to queen Bona Sforza.

The word biscione is an of Italian biscia "non-venomous snake; grass snake" (corrupted from bistia, ultimately from Latin bestia). As the symbol of Milan, the biscione is also used by the football club Inter Milan, by car manufacturer Alfa Romeo (also known as the "Casa del biscione", Italian for "House of the biscione" or "Biscione['s] marque") and, in a version where a flower replaces the child, by the mass media company Mediaset. A similar design is found in the seals of the Hungarian nobleman Nicholas I Garay, palatine to the King of Hungary (1375–1385). Here the crowned snake devours a Sovereign's Orb, rather than a human.

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