Tamburo dell'avanguardia (Drum[beat] of the Avant-Garde) is the motto of Blocco Studentesco (Student Bloc, BS), a neo-fascist youth group founded in 2006 by CasaPound Italia (CasaPound Italy, CPI). The CPI youth wing's leadership adopted the slogan in 2018 during a publicity campaign which witnessed numerous posters and oversized banners posted on the walls of primary schools, universities, and piazze throughout Italy. According to a press release by BS, the motto was conceived as both "a mission" and, according to the Evening Courier, "a warning for those who still believe that this youth can make itself heard, can still sound the charge, can still represent the front line of a revolution." A motto, the northern Italian daily continues, "that wants to emphasize how for years Blocco Studentesco has been at the forefront in the choice of battles and methods" over the shaping of youth consciousness in Italy (2018).
BS' official symbol – the so-called "flash and circle," which originated with Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists – consists of a white lightning bolt inside of a black and white circle. The circle, according to BS, represents the organization's emphasis on unity in response to the "modern emptiness" of an atomized, neo-liberal society, while the lightning bolt symbolizes action over words. Taken together, the "encircled lightning bolt" visually represents lightning as "the force that springs from being united."
This poster depicts a member of BS holding an oversized banner at the front of a public demonstration, his mouth held open in mid-shout. Behind him, a revolutionary crowd of BS supporters is evoked through the subtle outline of faces and bodies. The faces in the crowd have been anonymized by specific stylistic choices, opening up a space for viewers to see themselves reflected in the values and actions of this far-right youth group. This depiction of an energized group walking in formation, which is rendered in a flame-like color palette, and the evocation of demonstrators' shouts, places the image squarely within the tradition of neo-fascist imagery, which typically deploys the metaphor of youth as a powerful, revolutionary force that stands up against what is imagined to be an antiquated socio-political status quo.
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