This is Part 1 of a series which will explain each country's rules, criteria and culture behind how stars are placed over the clubs crests. Today we will cover the Italian Serie A. Stay tuned for more!
The Italian soccer federation has very simple, straight forward guidelines for how clubs are allowed to apply stars on their crests if they wish do to so: a gold star for every 10 national titles. The tradition first started with Juventus, in 1958 the club won it's 10th "scudetto" and sewed a golden star over its crest. The federation liked the idea and made it the standard for everyone. Today Juventus has 3 stars and Milan and Inter have 1 star each, but both clubs are just 1 national title away from the second star.
The myth of the silver star for 10 Italian Cups exists, but it not official. Juventus, with 14 cup titles, is the only club at the moment who would be able to apply it but chose not to pursue it. The ownership never explained why but most likely it is because a club the size of Juventus sees itself too big to celebrate a minor trophy this way.
Interestingly enough Roma has 9 Coppa Italia wins, and in 2013 a local derby against Lazio in the final could've awarded them the silver star. There were even rumors that Roma had already pre-ordered silver stars with Kappa to put on the jersey the next day. Unfortunately for the Red and Yellows, Lazio won the final and to this day, aside from Juventus, no one has reached the 10 title mark.
Who will get the second gold star first, Milan or Inter? Who will be the first club to sport the silver star? Will we ever see a bronze star for the Italian Super Cup? Italy has left us with a lot of questions that only time will tell.