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Tavolara Island (Sardinia, Italy)

Isola Tavolara

image by Mario Fabretto, 20 July 1996

Kingdom of Tavolara

See also:

Kingdom of Tavolara

From The Flag Bulletin XVI:4: "In 1836, King Charles Albert I of Sardinia visited King Paolo I of Tavolara and acknowledged him as an independent, sovereign monarch."
Documents going back to 1767 affirm that Tavolara had never been a part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. At the death of Paolo I, in 1886, the republic was declared, but the monarchy was reinstated a few years later (c. 1895).
A newspaper in 1880's described the flag of the Kingdom: On a white field a red shield with a distinctive golden star, surmounted by a golden Tavolara crown. The design of the crown is unique to the Tavolaran royalty; it was omitted from the flag when the island was a republic.
Sources: F. W. Lehmann, "Tavolara", on The Flag Bulletin XVI, 4 - "Il Re di Tavolara",on "L'avvenire di Sardegna, Giornale politico internazionale", Volume XVI, n. 82 (April 1886), p. 2 - V. Curti, "Un regno sconosciuto nel mare d'Italia", on "Il giornale d'Italia", 3-8 November 1959.
Mario Fabretto, 20 July 1996

The visit of the Kingdom of Tavolara was my dream and I did it in 2002 and took some pictures. The correct star on the Coat of Arms is not six-pointed but only five-pointed. This Coat of Arms decorates the Restaurant "Da Tonino" of the current King of Tavolara -Tonino Bertoleoni. As far as the flag is concerned I can say that I did not find any flag there, neither Italian nor Tavolaran. Therefore I think that the Kingdom has got no flag.
Michal Grof, 2 August 2004

I have a photo of the flag. The star have six points. I got the flag from Paolo Paddeu, one of the main Milanese vexillologists.
Jaume Ollé, 5 and 12 August 2004

Tavolara is an island off the east coast of Sardinia, and was an independent kingdom until 1934, when the last monarch died and left the island to the Kingdom of Italy, although there is still a claimant to the throne. Many of the islanders lost their homes when a NATO radioniometric station was constructed on the eastern half of the island. That area is still off limits to non-military personnel.
Jim Brown, fotw-fb, 9 September 2015