The patron saints of Busto Arsizio are Saint John the Baptist, to whom the 17th-century basilica at the heart of the town is dedicated, and Saint Michael the Archangel, titular of the collegiate church already recorded in the 14th century and rebuilt in the 17th: both are celebrated on 24 June, and their coats of arms appear together with those of the Marliani and Visconti families in one of the stained-glass windows of Milan Cathedral dedicated to the life of Saint Charles Borromeo.
The origins of what was once a textile centre of primary importance go back to the Middle Ages: already in 1375 the historian Pietro Antonio Crespi Castoldi could write that «almost every house has a loom clattering». In the 19th century the town developed thanks to numerous cotton-spinning and cotton-weaving mills, becoming one of Lombardy's leading industrial hubs; in 1997, after years of restoration, the Textile and Industrial Heritage Museum was opened at the former Cotonificio Bustese, which also houses the small «Luigi Celora» Cycling Museum. The town's symbol, a «B» topped by a flame said to recall the Latin verb burere, referring to «Busto burnt», also joined the new coat of arms of the province of Varese in 2006.
