About

"O Bella Ciao" is an Italian antifascist song often attributed to the partisan movement in Italy during World War II, when the Italian resistance fought against the occupying troops of Nazi Germany and dictator Benito Mussolini's collaborationist fascist forces. While the song is often linked with the Italian partisan movement, music scholars have cited a lack of evidence of the song being sung during WW2. Instead, they cite 1953 as the earliest publication of the song, highlighting a notable 1964 performance at the 1964 Spoleto Festival as the catalyst for the song's present-day fame. "Bella Ciao" is often sung in Italy as part of Liberation Day celebrations yearly on April 25th. In modern popular culture, the song is often invoked as a metaphor for freedom, as seen in the popular Spanish Netflix show Money Heist. The song continues to be linked with anti-Nazi and antifascist sentiments after 2020, with Germans in Würzburg singing the song to protest the rise of the right-extremist party AfD in January 2025. In September 2025, the song saw renewed virality online after bullets related to the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk were found to have, among other phrases, the words, "O Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao," carved onto them. Some internet users pushed back on the notion that the shooter was a leftist for referencing the song, noting that it appears on a Spotify playlist titled "Groyper War (America First 🇺🇸)."

Origin

While the song "Bella Ciao" is often attributed to partisan forces that liberated Italy from Nazi troops in April 1945, music scholars have since cited a lack of evidence indicating that the song was sung as an antifascist anthem prior to the 1950s. According to researcher Luigi Morrone, the earliest evidence of the song as sung today is in a 1953 magazine, La Lapa, and in the 1955 collection Partisan and Democratic Songs, edited by the youth commission of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI).^[1]

An early notable performance of the song was at the 1964 Spoleto Festival in Italy, when it was presented by the Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano. A digitized version of the performance became available on YouTube^[2] on April 27th, 2020, via MuseoMusica Bologna.

French-Italian singer Yves Montand is also credited with popularizing the song in 1964, as seen in a May 22nd, 2018, post by the YouTube^[3] channel Ina Chansons that gathered over 1.6 million views in seven years.

Spread

The song "Bella Ciao" has spread internationally as a protest hymn about resistance and freedom, and is often used in demonstrations and commemorative events.

The song has also been translated into several languages, as seen in this July 28th, 2009, video uploaded by YouTuber^[6] IranUltimatum to highlight the then-ongoing democratic protests in Iran. The video gathered over 6.9 million views in 16 years.

The song "Bella Ciao" makes repeat appearances in the Spanish Netflix show Money Heist, as seen in this scene from season 1, episode 11, in which a group of bank robbers sing the song in celebration of tunneling into a vault.

A March 24th, 2020, upload of the scene to YouTube^[5] gathered over 100 million views in five years.

On January 25th, 2025, a crowd of Germans in Würzburg sang the song to protest the rise of the right-extremist party AfD in January 2025, as seen in a January 25th, 2025, video posted by TikToker^[4] @dasistwuerzburg, gathering over 4.5 million views and 300,000 likes in eight months.

Charlie Kirk Shooter Bullet Casing

On September 12th, 2025, news reports^[7] indicated that a number of phrases had been found engraved onto the bullet casings found in the rifle believed to have been used by the alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, to shoot conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Among a number of internet meme and video game references was the phrase, "O Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao," a clear reference to the Italian anthem.

While some claimed the reference showed antifa ideologies related to the shooter, several internet users pushed back on the notion that Charlie Kirk's shooter may be a leftist, instead citing the "Groyper War," a campaign created by far-right commentator Nick Fuentes to harass Charlie Kirk.

On September 12th, 2025, X^[8] user @mike_from_pa posted a screenshot of the song "Bella Ciao" appearing on a Spotify playlist called "Groyper Wars (America First🇺🇸) The caption on the post read, "I've seen some Millennials saying that Bella Ciao being on the casing means that the 22-yr old shooter was a leftist. Here is a remix of Bella Ciao on the 'Groyper War' America First playlist. Groyper War refers to their targeting of CHARLIE KIRK."

Search Interest

External References