Contrada della Lupa

Amy Freer April 10, 2013 Contrade Siena, Tuscany, Italy view in flickr

This photo is of the Contrada's statue.

This is one version of a Contrada della Lupa banner.

Lupa is located north of the Piazza del Campo and its residents traditionally were bakers. Lupa's colors are black and white with orange trim. Its symbol is of a shewolf nursing twins.

This symbol has great historical significance due to the fact that it is a symbol of ancient Rome. It depicts the legend behind the origin of Rome: the twins Romulus and Remus were raised by a shewolf and later founded the great city of Rome. The legend then follows that Senius, son of Remus, went on to found Siena. 

As such, Lupa's sister city is Rome. Moreover, Rome is mentioned in the contrada's motto: “Et Urbis et Senarum signum et decus” (The arms of Rome, the honor of Siena).

The contrada does not have any allies (which is supposedly quite rare). The one ally it did have was the Contrada dell' Istrice, which become its current adversary contrada since 1934.