As of yesterday, Italy has been united for 164 years: "March 17 celebrates the birth of Italy and, with it, the unity won at a high price with the Risorgimento, together with the reappropriation, with the struggle for Liberation, of its identity and unity after the Nazi occupation and the institutional rupture caused by the establishment of the Republic of Salò in Northern Italy". These were the words of President Sergio Mattarella in celebrating the 164th anniversary of the National Unity, Constitution, Anthem, and Flag. The Head of State, accompanied by Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, laid a wreath of laurel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Altare della Patria in Rome on March 17, observing a minute of silence before greeting the authorities and high officials present, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The Tricolor was projected on the façade of Montecitorio and Palazzo Madama in honor of Italy's unification anniversary, along with the text "March 17, Day of National Unity, the Constitution, the Anthem, and the Flag". An occasion, according to Mattarella, that "reminds every one of the values on which our community is founded and the aspirations that animate it toward building a more cohesive and inclusive society, one that looks to the future with confidence within the European framework". An event that "calls upon every citizen to make the ideals of freedom and justice of the Republic increasingly effective, facing the challenges to achieve concrete peace in an international context where aggressive forces have prevailed, in Ukraine as well as in the Middle East". The Day of National Unity, Constitution, Anthem, and Flag is an annual celebration on March 17, commemorating the birth of the Italian state, which took place following the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy on March 17, 1861, in Turin. It was established in 2012.