As in many other cases, the race of the Palio takes its name from the prize, namely the "pallium", a very precious cloth destined to the winning Contrada, that could use it to decorate or enrich its church or, in some cases, to sell it and get a dowry for young brides.

Looking back to the history of this manifestation means finding a reality, as the medieval one, when all the villages and the cities held horse races, equestrian games and competitions with other animals, following the classical popular tradition.
According to some sources, the origin of the Palio of Siena could even date to the year 1260, when it was called for the first time to commemorate the victory on the Montaperti battle.
More reliable sources trace the genesis of the modern Palio back to the year 1594, when the citizens of Siena, oppressed by the Florentine and the Spanish occupation, wanted to celebrate the miracle made by St. Caterina.
A soldier who wanted to shot at a "Pietà", that, according to some legends, the saint had placed in a tabernacle three centuries before, died for the explosion of his arquebus without accomplishing his act.
Actually, we are in front of a more complicated historical process that cannot be explained through single episodes and that has to do with the evolution of the role played by the Contrade in the city of Siena.
The creation of the Contrade, with some of the names that we know today, dates to the "bull hunting" and to the "bufalate" during which the boldest "contradaioli" defied each other riding cow buffaloes. These popular manifestations co-existed with the nobles' competitions called "palii alla lunga" that took place on the city streets or in the districts.
The progressive decline of the Sienese Republic, caused by the Florentine and the Spanish occupations in 1555, shifted the citizen's attention from the events happening outside the borders to the questions concerning the city.
Probably in this period, the Contrade became the protagonists of the city's history and the competition between them started to assume the connotations that later gave life to the Palio as we know it today.