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Territory and history
The Black Rooster on a golden background is the traditional symbol of the Chianti Classico wine.
The symbol was mainly chosen for its meaning in history and in popular traditions.
The legend of the Black Rooster goes back to the Middle Ages. Its story illustrates the political unification of the Chianti area, because the behavior of a black rooster decided the course of history.
The legend says that in the Middle Ages, when the two cities of Florence and Siena where fighting each other, the Chianti area, for its position between the two cities was the object of constant disputes. To end these disputes and define the border an original solution was adopted. It was agreed that two knights would have left their respective cities and the border would have been set wherever they met. They would leave at sunset at the first cock-crow. This decision was perfectly in line with the customs of that period, when daily life was marked using natural processes. Thus, when preparing for this event, choosing the cock could have been more crucial than choosing the horse and the knight. The people from Siena chose a white cock, while people from Florence chose a black one. The black cock was kept for several days in a small and dark hutch and was left with almost no food to induce a sort of exasperation.
The day agreed for this meeting the black cock began crowing loud much earlier than sunset immediately after having been taken out from the hutch. Then the knight from Florence could leave immediately, taking great advantage on the knight from Siena, who had to wait for sunset, when his cock began crowing regularly. The knight from Siena left much later than the knight from Florence and could only ride 12 kilometers before meeting the other knight at Fonterutoli.
So, the largest part of the Chianti area was added to the territory of the Florence Republic, much earlier than the fall of Siena.
After this event, the Black Rooster became also the symbol of the Lega del Chianti (the Chianti League) that performed administrative and defense duties within the State of Florence.
Due to its political importance, it was also painted in the “Salone del Cinquecento” (Hall of the Fifteenth Century), in a famous fresco by Vasari, when the well-known painter and architect was called to restore Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in the mid Sixteenth century.
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