4 November was a public holiday in Italy until 1976.

The Italian government is at work to restore National Unity and Armed Forces Day as a public holiday, Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said on 4 November.

"A new law is being drawn up to make 4 November a national holiday again", Crosetto said during celebrations in Cagliari on Saturday, state broadcaster RAI News reports.

Introduced in 1919, the Giorno dell'Unità nazionale e Giornata delle Forze Armate ceased being a public holiday in 1977.

• Italy's public holidays: a quick guide

Since then it has been observed as a national day, without a day off. However that is set to change under the government's plans.

Last July a bill to restore 4 November as a public holiday was approved by the senate and must now be passed by the lower house.

The date of the national day, which is marked with military ceremonies in Rome and elsewhere in Italy each year, coincides with the anniversary of the armistice of Villa Giusti in 1918, which ended world war one on the Italian front.