The bulk of the party leadership (including Meloni), as well as the symbol of the movement (the tricolour flame),[17] comes from the National Alliance (AN, 1995–2009) party, which had merged into PdL in 2009.[18] AN was the heir to the Italian Social Movement (MSI, 1945–1995), a neo-fascist party founded by former members of the banned National Fascist Party (1921–1943) and the Republican Fascist Party (1943–1945).[19][20][21]

(from their wiki page) of course, they deny it completely.