ABOVE: Our favorite Unification Day tricolore: red, white, and green t-shirts pinned to an apartment balcony's railing.

Thursday, March 17 was Unification Day in Italy, and it it wasn't just any old date on a calendar. This year, Unification Day was declared a public holiday because it celebrated the 150th birthday of modern Italy.

The Italian tricolore has been displayed all over town this week, and not only in the form of flags: One creative apartment-dweller made a tricolore out of t-shirts, and in many cases, retailers came up with their own clever twists on the red, white, and green theme.

Here's a random selection of photos that we snapped while walking around Vnice over the last several days: