The Coat of Arms

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The Army School of Applied Military Studies was established as a sole Military Institute for all Army Branches on September 10, 1976, following a radical overhaul of individual “Army Branch Schools”.
​ Consequently, it needed a single coat of arms incorporating the most significant heraldic symbols of the above-mentioned Schools.
The main elements included in the new coat of arms granted by Presidential Decree dated March 14, 1977 are a shield with external ornaments. Two symbols are emblazoned on the shield. They show the origin of the School of Applied Military Studies that was established by merging three earlier Institutes, namely, the Infantry and Cavalry Schools, the Artillery School and the School of the Engineer Corps as well as its special relationship with the city of Turin, where those Schools were based.

Therefore, the shield was divided into quarters. The first three quarters are dedicated to the former Schools of Applied Military Science and the last to the city of Turin.

The first quarter includes the symbols of the Infantry and Cavalry Schools. Obviously, the emblazoning of symbols recalling the legacy of those former Branch Schools entailed a further subdivision of the coat of arms, which is itself quartered.
The first small quarter shows the coat of arms of Piedmont, a silver cross against a red background topped with a label of three azure drops. The second small quarter incorporates the traditional emblem of the Piedmontese Cavalry, a black eagle with unfolded wings against a silver background. The third small quarter includes the arms of Parma (gold on an azure cross) and the symbol of Infantry, a silver Roman gladius with a gold handle surrounded by a laurel branch against an azure backdrop urmounted by a silver star, in memory of the “Silver Medal of Military Valour” awarded to the Infantry College. The fourth small quarter contains the coat of arms of Pinerolo, silver with three black bands crossed by a pine tree, and a winged silver horse against a red background, another symbol of Cavalry.

The second quarter portrays the "Royal Theoretical and Practical Schools of Artillery and Fortification" from which the Artillery School originates. A gold and red graft is emblazoned on it: traditionally, Artillery sported gold and the Corps of Engineers red. A band of azure, the colour of the House of Savoy, crosses the graft diagonally, as they founded the Royal Schools.

Similarly, the third quarter is dedicated to the discontinued School of the Corps of Engineers and incorporates its coat of arms that differs from that of the Artillery School only by a three-storey tower on the band.

Finally, the last quarter shows a rampant bull in gold against an azure background, the symbol of the city of Turin. A blue ribbon edged in silver unfolds from the frieze, in memory of the Silver Medal of Military Valour awarded to the Infantry College.

Below the shield, a silver scroll sports the Latin motto “Doctrinas bello aptare” (adapt the teachings to war), originally adopted by the "Royal Theoretical and Practical Schools of Artillery and Fortification," the most ancient Institute whose nification led to the establishment of the current School of Applied Military Studies. The School motto summarises its mission.

The shield in the current heraldic coat of arms is unchanged while its external ornaments have been modified. A turreted crown formed by a circle that is red on the inside stands above the shield. Two wall cords supporting eight towers (of which only five are visible) outline the circle. The towers are rectangular with ten Guelph battlements, four of which have an angular shape. The battlements include the details of a door and a window and are joined by wall curtains, each one with a window as well. The composition is gold with a black edge. Fluttering on the left side of the shield, a blue ribbon threaded with silver indicates the Silver Military Valor Medal; on the right side of the shield, a blue ribbon threaded with bronze indicates the Bronze Medal for Valor of the '​Army. A gold bifid band bearing the motto "Doctrinas bello aptare," in black Roman lapidary capitals flutters below the tip of the shield, in the middle, with its hollow part facing upward.