 The emblem comprises a white five-pointed star, the "Stella d'Italia", with a thin red border, superimposed upon a five-spoked cogwheel, standing between an olive branch to the left side and an oak branch to the right side; the branches are in turn bound together by a red ribbon with the inscription "REPVBBLICA ITALIANA" ("Italian Republic" written in Italian, but in an ancient Roman-style Latin alphabet).The emblem is used extensively by the Italian government.The armorial bearings of the House of Savoy, blazoned "gules a cross argent", were previously in use by the former Kingdom of Italy; the supporters, on either side "a lion rampant Or", were replaced with "fasci littori" (literally bundles of the lictors) during the fascist era.