CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — As the Winter Olympics return to Cortina d’Ampezzo, blue, white and green Ladin flags are hanging from balconies and windows across the Alpine resort, outnumbering Italy’s green, white and red tricolour. The display signals a renewed push for visibility by the Ladin minority, which says it has long been overlooked.

For Ladins in Cortina, the Milano Cortina Games offer a rare opportunity to assert their identity in a region where they feel sidelined compared with Ladin-speaking communities just across the provincial border in South Tyrol.

Ladin, a Rhaeto-Romance language spoken by about 30,000 people in parts of northern Italy’s Dolomites, enjoys strong legal protection and public visibility in South Tyrol. The autonomous province integrates minority languages into schools, public administration and public broadcasting. In neighboring Veneto, where Cortina is located, Ladin representatives say recognition is far weaker.

“This was not meant only as a protest, but also as a sign of welcome to the Olympic public,” said Roland Verra, president of the Union Generala di Ladins in Ortisei, South Tyrol, referring to initiatives launched to highlight Ladin culture during the Games.

Local activists are rolling out an information campaign timed with the Olympics, producing materials for journalists and visitors. These include a mini dictionary of around 300 sports-related terms in Ladin, translated into Italian, German, English, French and Spanish.

“The Milano Cortina Foundation did not include us or say anything about our identity,” said Elsa Zardini, president of the Union de i Ladis de Anpezo (Union of the Ladins of Ampezzo). “So we distributed about 500 flags to those who wanted to put them on their houses.”

Ladin and English Placards

Placards in Ladin and English will also appear in central Cortina near the municipal offices. Featuring QR codes, the displays link to a short film in Ladin with English subtitles that outlines the community’s history, traditions and ongoing challenges. The placards are set to remain in place throughout the Games.

Ladin representatives say the drive for exposure reflects long-standing frustration over political and legal recognition.

“The Veneto region does not finance us; we get our funding from South Tyrol. There is no possibility to have Ladin taught in schools here, unlike in South Tyrol,” Zardini said.

In 2007, Cortina voted overwhelmingly to leave the northeastern Veneto region and join the largely autonomous Trentino–Alto Adige (South Tyrol) region. The result, however, was never implemented.

In South Tyrol, Ladins benefit from provincial autonomy that guarantees language rights in education, public administration and media, along with cultural funding and political representation. Veneto, which has ordinary regional status, has no specific laws protecting Ladins, whose leaders say national reforms have not translated into meaningful regional measures.

Following the 1956 Winter Olympics, Cortina attracted immigrants to work in construction, and later drew wealthy buyers from cities such as Milan and Venice, drawn by the resort’s Alpine appeal. Today, about half of Cortina’s 5,700 residents still speak Ladin.

As organizers promote the Dolomites’ heritage alongside Olympic venues, Ladins in Veneto say the Games highlight stark regional disparities.

“We see how Ladin culture is protected and visible just across the border in South Tyrol,” Verra said. “The Olympics give us a chance to ask why the same recognition does not exist here.” -Reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Ed Osmond/Reuters