The lion is a strong symbol of power that often represented, in the history of many cultures, kings and extraordinary people.

This design, based on a request by Mattia, represents St. Mark´s lion, symbol of the former Republic of Venezia.

A curiosity: in peaceful times St. Mark´s lion has an open book between his legs, with the writing "Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus", or "Peace to you Mark, my evangelist"; during war the lion was instead represented with his book closed.