Il pellicano

On the tabernacle of the church commissioned by Lady Javotte to celebrate the founder of the Bocconi University appears the image of a pelican that injures itself to extinguish with its blood the flames threatening its nest with its young. The image of the pelican will accompany the entire history of the University and will be repeatedly used from 1906, when the Alumni chose it as the symbol of the association. Used in the ex-libris of the then Institute of Economics with the motto “Look at my virtue if it is powerful” and in the goliardic coat of arms of the Quaderdonissimo Goliardic Order of the Taula established in 1949, the pelican later appeared in Vademecum from 1947 and in student guides of the 1990s, eventually becoming the symbol of the editorial series of Egea’s pamphlets, Le dispense del pellicano; finally, it was chosen as the mascot of the University’s sports teams.
The image of the pelican traverses the history of Bocconi, becoming the symbol of the Library and the entire University, engaged since its foundation in the enterprise of advancing and disseminating knowledge in social sciences through rigorous and innovative research.