Marco Giuseppe Compagnoni (3 March 1754 – 29 December 1833) was an Italian constitutionalist, writer and journalist, considered the "father of the Tricolor"s, since he was the first to propose the official use of the flag of Italy for a sovereign Italian state, the Cispadane Republic, on 7 January 1797.
Source: https://books.google.de/books?id=UIUEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA202 (Rivista europea: Il Raccoglitore, ossia Archivj di viaggi, di filosofia [&c.] (compilato per D. Bertolotti). [Continued as] Ricoglitore italiano e straniero, ossia Rivista mensile europea di scienze, lettere [&]. Anno 1-4, 1834) License: CC-PD-Mark PD-old-100-expired