A Confused Sicilian writes to us on Facebook

A Sicilian has posted in Italian on the Real Man Pizza Facebook page asking for a job. That is because he thinks that we are a Sicilian restaurant.  That is in fact not as daft as it sounds – we do serve one Sicilian wine but the confusion comes from the Isle of Man flag which flies outside out restaurant and is on our web-page.

 

Ilse of Man                                                 Sicily

You see the similarity – the presence of the triskelion – the three legs. The Sicilian flag comes from 1282, the Isle of Man flag is from 1931 although it is based on the Manx coat of arms which is from the 13^th century. Some folks suggest that the Manx flag is derived from that of Sicily, others that it came via Olaf Cuaran, a 10^th century Norse Gaelic warlord who briefly ruled the Isle of Man.

It could just be a coincidence – the triskelion is an ancient symbol going back as far as Mycenae.

So our Sicilian friend can easily be forgiven his mistake.