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"There are four notable races a year. The first is rowed in May for a banner of red and gold; the white and gold pennon and, as well, the green in August; the blue pennon in October."
Source:
The gondolier's sombre meeting room with regatta flags in a case against the wall. Photo by Gribayedoff.
Outing magazine, vol. LI no. 6, March, 1908, p. 649.
Vance Thompson's Cab Drivers / 45
The Gondolier of Venice / 6
And when he gets old, what becomes of him – for all men have not the art of dying at the right moment – what of the old gondolier, who can no longer sway to the beechen oar? Perhaps for a little while he prowls abroad in his old boat, which has lost its fine curve and lies flat and dingy on the water, picking up unprofitable traffic in the poorer water-lanes, but in time even that is beyond him. The he becomes agranchaio, which is to say a "crab catcher." At the landing-steps, armed with a hooked pole, he waits to bring in or shove out the gondola. The Venetian gives him a quarter of a cent by way of fee. Outlanders tip him more abundantly. He, too, has his guild, and, ragged and poverty-struck as he looks, his place in society. He is no beggar, though he holds out his dirty slouch hat for coppers. A licensed and honorable "crab-catcher" he is still earning his livelihood. He is of no great service to any one except himself, for any gondolier can bring a boat alongside the landing, but he is a picturesque figure and, in honor of his laborious past, it is only fair that he should be pensioned off by the public. (Here are my coppers,ganzero, with good will and God bless you!)