Signature Tee Details — 9º Stormo Francesco Baracca

This Signature Series tee references 9º Stormo “Francesco Baracca” of the Italian Air Force, bringing together the colours of Italy and one of the most enduring symbols in Italian aviation.

 The front carries the Flight Insignia Signature Mark rendered in the Italian tricolore. Its minimal geometry and restrained scale reflect the design philosophy of the Signature Series, introducing the national identity without overwhelming the composition.

 On the left sleeve, the Cavallino Rampante recalls the emblem associated with Francesco Baracca and subsequently carried within the identity of 9º Stormo. Presented in white against the dark green garment, the horse becomes the principal historical element of the design. The right sleeve is intentionally left unmarked, preserving the asymmetric balance of the composition.

The interior is finished with a discreet Flight Insignia neck label, completing the garment without visual interruption.

The result brings together two distinct forms of identity: the Italian colours expressed through the contemporary Flight Insignia Signature Mark, and a historic aviation emblem whose association with Baracca reaches back to the earliest years of combat flying.

9º Stormo — The Legacy of Francesco Baracca

 9º Stormo of the Aeronautica Militare carries the name of Francesco Baracca, Italy’s leading fighter ace of the First World War and one of the defining figures of the country’s early military aviation.

Before becoming an aviator, Baracca served with the Piemonte Reale Cavalleria. Its heraldic emblem was a prancing horse, a symbol Baracca later adopted—with variations—for his aircraft. The Cavallino Rampante became closely associated with the pilot and survived his death in 1918 as one of the most recognisable symbols of Italian aviation heritage.

The connection extends directly to 9º Stormo. Named in Baracca’s honour, the unit has retained the Cavallino Rampante as part of its identity across successive generations of aircraft and changing operational roles.

Its significance therefore reaches beyond a particular aircraft type. The horse provides continuity: a symbol originating in cavalry, carried into the pioneering era of aerial combat and preserved within a modern Italian Air Force unit.

The F-104S — An Italian Starfighter

Few aircraft became as closely associated with post-war Italian military aviation as the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. The F-104S represented a particularly important chapter in that relationship.

Developed in response to an Aeronautica Militare requirement for a new all-weather fighter, the F-104S was a substantially evolved version of the Starfighter. It incorporated the more powerful General Electric J79-GE-19 engine, revised radar and avionics, additional hardpoints and, in the interceptor configuration, the capability to employ radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles.

Production was centred in Italy through Fiat and later Aeritalia, making the F-104S more than simply another imported variant of an American fighter. It was a Starfighter developed around Italian operational requirements and produced by Italian industry.

The type served with several Aeronautica Militare units, including 9º Stormo, and became part of an exceptionally long Italian relationship with the Starfighter. Later F-104S aircraft were progressively modernised through the ASA and ASA/M programmes, allowing the unmistakable shape of the F-104 to remain part of Italian military aviation into the early years of the twenty-first century.

That longevity made the Starfighter more than an aircraft in Italian service. Across successive generations of pilots, maintainers and squadrons, it became one of the defining silhouettes of the Aeronautica Militare during the Cold War and beyond.

From Baracca to the Jet Age

The identity of 9º Stormo demonstrates how military aviation symbols can survive profound technological change.

Baracca flew during an era when military aviation itself was still young. The F-104S belonged to another world entirely: supersonic flight, radar-guided interception and the technological demands of Cold War air defence. Yet the Cavallino Rampante remained recognisable across that divide.

 That continuity forms the basis of the Flight Insignia design. The tee does not attempt to reproduce the F-104S itself. Instead, it concentrates on the identity surrounding it—the Italian colours, the Flight Insignia Signature Mark and the historic horse carried forward in the name and traditions of 9º Stormo.

Separated by decades of aviation development, the elements belong to the same lineage: a symbol created in the earliest age of combat aviation continuing its journey into the supersonic era.