Last modified: 2013-11-16 by rob raeside
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taken from the official Vatican
site.
Yellow (or golden) is associated with golden keys - symbols of
Saint Peter (popes are the direct descendants of Saint Peter's
office). The keys are supposedly the keys to paradise.
Željko Heimer, 21 May 1996
I do not know the exact significance of the cord (although it
might symbolize the "unity" of the Church or perhaps
God's covenant with man?) , but it ties the keys together at the
point at which they cross each other, and then forms a loop
between the 'handles' of the keys with tassels hanging down.from
the centre knot.
Christopher Southworth, 12 February 2004
You get a tassseld cord as part of cardinals hat (an authority
symbol ?).
From church encycolopedia <www.newadvent.org>:
"Cincture - The prayer now recited by
the priest in putting on the girdle, "Gird me, O Lord, with
the girdle of purity", etc., strongly suggests that this
vestment should be regarded as typical of priestly chastity. Like
the other Mass vestments, the girdle requires to be blessed
before use. Some kind of cincture, we may further note, is
included in almost every form of religious or ecclesiastical
costume. In certain religious orders it receives a special
blessing, and in such familiar instances as the Cord of St.
Francis or the Girdle of St. Augustine it is sanctioned and
indulgenced by the Church as indicating a profession of
allegiance to a particular institute. Again, the broad sash,
which forms part of the civil attire of bishops, priests, and
other ecclesiastics, has been imitated, apparently for sthetic
reasons, in the costume of choir boys and servers at the altar.
It should be said that this last development, while not expressly
prohibited so long as certain rules are observed regarding colour
and material, is not in any way prescribed or recommended by
ecclesiastical authority. "
" Ecclesiastical Heraldry - The
ecclesiastical hat is low, flat, wide-brimmed and depending from
either side are cords and tassels.
The Holy See - Strictly speaking there are no official arms for
the papal sovereignty. Although the crossed keys of St. Peter
displayed upon an azure field, have occasionally been used for
that purpose, and with such intention, they are more properly a
device in the nature of external ornaments to the shield, and as
such will be again referred to later."
"The Holy See - The emblems of the papacy
consist of the tiara and the crossed keys of St. Peter "to
bind and to unloose", one key being of gold and one of
silver, the two being usually tied together with a cord. These
are usually, and most properly, placed in saltire behind the
personal arms of His Holiness (a practice originated by Adrian
VI, in 1522), the shield being surmounted by the tiara, but the
keys are frequently disposed in saltire below the tiara and above
the shield, and, as the emblem of the papacy, the tiara and keys
are often used alone without any shield at all."
Hugh Watkins, 12 February 2004
At <www.vatican.va>:
" Since the XIV Century, the two crossed keys have been the
official insignia of the Holy See. The gold one, on the right,
alludes to the power in the kingdom of the heavens, the silver
one, on the left, indicates the spiritual authority of the papacy
on earth. The mechanisms are turned up towards the heaven and the
grips turned down, in other words into the hands of the Vicar of
Christ. The cord with the bows that unites the grips alludes to
the bond between the two powers."
Phil Nelson, 13 February 2004
Oddly, the arms of the Vatican, as shown here, do not have the
horizontal binding centre cord, and so make more sense
topologically. Although it is difficult to tell from them, I'd
say that on the arms at least, you do the following.
1. Form the keys into a saltire, handles down, with a loop of
cord vertically behind the keys.
2. Pass the two cord ends over the junction of the keys and down
in front of them, through the loop you have formed.
3. Pass each loop through the handle of one key from the front.
4. Tie the two ends into a single tassle.
This, you will note, is quite different to what is shown on the
flag.
James Dignan, 13 February 2004
The illustration I have on file 'appears' to be official, but
I cannot be certain since I don't know when and how William
Crampton obtained it. However, (whether official or not) it
definitely shows a single, horizontal strand of red cord across
the keys. Incidentally, this model also shows the arms as
being one-half of flag width high, which is rather larger than we
show here.
Christopher Southworth, 13 February 2004
According to <www.vatican.va>:
"The symbolism is drawn from the Gospel and is represented
by the keys given to the Apostle Peter by Christ.
The insignia is red with the two keys crossed as the Cross of St.
Andrew, one gold and one silver, with the cotter pointed upwards
and towards the sides of the shield. Two cords hang from the
grips of the keys, usually red or blue.
The shield is surmounted by the tiara or triregnum.
Two ribbons hang from the tiara, each with a patent cross.
Ordinarily the keys have the mechanical part placed up, facing to
the right and the left and usually in the form of a cross, not
for the mechanisms of a lock, but as a religious symbol. The
grips vary according to artistic taste, from the Gothic to the
Baroque.
Since the XIV Century, the two crossed keys have been the
official insignia of the Holy See. The gold one, on the right,
alludes to the power in the kingdom of the heavens, the silver
one, on the left, indicates the spiritual authority of the papacy
on earth. The mechanisms are turned up towards the heaven and the
grips turned down, in other words into the hands of the Vicar of
Christ. The cord with the bows that unites the grips alludes to
the bond between the two powers."
Paolo Montanelli, 20 October 2004
This is a bit confusing, as they are crossed. Perhaps it
should say, "The gold one, with its *handle* on the
[heraldic] right [viewer's left]..."
Nathan Lamm, 20 October 2004
I believe that the answer should be fairly simple, in fact,
accroding to the heraldical rules. The first mentioned key (the
golden one) is making the proper bend, as the first and thus
having precedence while the second one, the silver key is, well,
secondary and is those set in the bend sinistre. Now, I do not
know exact heraldic balzon, but I would assume that there is
something in the line of above. Anyway, it seems that
unlike the state arms, the personal arms of the popes have the
kays set the other way around, at least for the several recent
popes (probably before that time the issue was not that precisely
set).
The first charge in the saltire is set in bend sinistre, so /,
while he other is in bend, this way: \ The golden key on vatican
flags has the "ring" towards bottom and hoist,
Željko Heimer, 20 October 2004
There is also (probably) a deliberate difference between the
arrangement of the keys as used by the Papacy/Holy See (gold key
representing spiritual power to upper left) and the keys as used
by the State of the Vatican City (silver key representing
temporal power to upper left).
Richard d'Apice, 21 October 2004
In fact they represent the Pope's double power, to bind or to
loose on earth and also in heaven. The symbolism is derived from
the episode where Jesus tells St Peter that he is being given the
power to bind on Earth as well as in Heaven ["...what you
bind on earth is also bound in haven; what you loose on earth is
also loosed in Heaven"].
Paul Folley, 28 May 2008
I recommend Galbreath (1972)
as a good reference for papal heraldry.
Pascal Vagnat, 17 May 1996
From Heim (1978), page 101:
From the 16th Century on the coat of the Papacy may be
blasoned: Gules a pair of keys crossed in saltire, one gold, one
silver, tied gold, surmounted by a tiara silver, crowned gold.
Philip E. Cleary, 17 May 1997
I would strongly suggest the Vatican webpage at <www.vatican.va> is also a
good start for Vatican heraldry. I do know a little bit about it,
for example the keys represent the keys to heaven, and the hat
represents papal authority.
John D. Giorgis, 10 December 1997
The arms of the Vatican City and the papacy are (in plain
English) On a red field, two crossed keys, one gold and one
silver, and a tiara. (less plain) Gules, two keys, or and argent,
in saltire, a tiara of the second and third.. The Pope uses his
own arms, with the keys behind and the tiara on top.
Ole Andersen, 13 December 1997
Ole is right. The coat of arms of the State of the City of the
Vatican has been officialised with the Fundamental Law of the 7th
of June 1929, as part of the Treaty of Lateran. In this one, the
article 19 says: "The flag of the City of the Vatican
consists of two fields divided vertically, yellow field on the
staff side and a white field on the other side, which bears the
tiara and the keys, the whole following the model A annexed to
the present law. The shield shows the tiara with the key,
according to the model B annexed to the present law. The seal
bears in the centre the tiara and the keys, and on the
circumference the words "State of the City of the
Vatican", according to the model annexed to the present
law."
The flag is a square flag with at the top of the yellow and gold
hoist, a pike with an angel's face. On the hoist is attached a
ribbon (French: une cravate et un noeud) in yellow and white. The
ends of the "cravate" are fringed in gold. In Italian:
"Asta gialla istata d'oro, cimata di lancia ornata di
coccarda degli stessi colori della bandiera e frangiata
d'oro".
The coat of arms consists of a red French styled shield:
___________
| |
| |
| |
| |
\___ ____/
\/
The seal has the words "STATO DELLA CITTA DEL
VATICANO" written.
Still on this subject, for those who are interested in Papal
heraldry, I recommend:
Galbreath, Donald Lindsay: "Papal Heraldry", second
edition revised by Geoffrey Briggs, Heraldry Today, London 1972.
Source: Acta apostolicae sedis, supplemento per le leggi e
disposizioni dello città del Vaticano. Pontificato di S.S. Pio
XI- Anno VIII. Città del Vaticano, tipografia poliglotta
vaticana. 1929
Pascal Vagnat, 14 December 1997
Thanks for the infos about the Vatican City State flag and
arms. But some years ago I noted a certain discrepancy which one
of you may solve.
The arms of all of the popes I know show the heraldically right
(= dexter) key as golden, the other one as silver.
BUT: In the illustration to the law Pascal quoted (I own a
colourful sample of it) the keys in the Vatican City State are
exchanged, i. e. the dexter key is SILVER.
Why this difference? From an heraldic view the more prominent key
(I think gold is more worthy than silver) should show to the
heraldically right side, which is followed by the popes' arms,
but not by the state's arms. Does anyone know the reason?
Ed Linder, 15 December 1997
The position of the gold key isn't so important. In fact
during the history, both versions can be found: dexter key: gold
and sinister key silver or vice versa. But more important: at
first, in the history of this coat of arms, there wasn't any gold
key: both were silver (see for instance in the Cathedral of
Bourges the picture of the Church coat of arms which is
accompanying the achievements of the anti-popes Clement VII and
Benedict XIII). Then came a time where gold keys are to be found
and finally the present usage of placing a gold key in bend
across silver one in bend sinister slowly makes its way, but it
is to be noted that the relative positions are sometimes
reversed. The colour of the field also varied: the field is
almost always red, ccasionally blue.
So, having gold in dexter and silver in sinister isn't important.
Why would be a key more important than the other, as we also know
that there wasn't any gold key at first? I think the coat of arms
is normal as this case occurred in the past for the Church coat
of arms (now, the coat of arms of the State of the City of
Vatican), or maybe is it a reproduction error, the picture being
inverted, as it can happen sometimes.
Source: - Galbreath, Donald Lindsay: "Papal Heraldry",
second edition revised by Geoffrey Briggs, Heraldry Today, London
1972.
Pascal Vagnat, 16 December 1997
There seems to be literary if not heraldic authority for one
golden and one silver key as early as the fourteenth century;
they were at least being thought of as gold and silver. In
Dante's Purgatorio, Canto IX, beginning at line 118, the angel
posted at Peter's Gate is portrayed with Peter's keys and
explains their significance. Dorothy Sayers, in the notes to her
translation of the Purgatorio (Penguin Books, 1955), glosses this
explanation as follows:
"[The Keys] are the two parts of absolution: The Golden Key
is the Divine authority given to the Church to remit sin; it is
'the costlier' because it was bought at the price of God's
Passion and Death. The Silver Key is the unloosening of the hard
entanglement of sin in the human heart: and this needs great
skill on the part of the Church and her priesthood when
administering the sacrament of Penance. Both keys must function
smoothly for a valid absolution: the use of the golden key
without the silver lands you exactly where it landed Guido da
Montefeltro (Inf. xxvii. 67 sqq.): the silver without the golden
(i.e. remorse for sin without seeking reconciliation) leads only
to despair and the Gorgon at the Gates of Dis. (Inf. ix.)"
M.H.S. 14 October 1999
The Vatican coat of arms looks very similar to the arms of
French Historical Province called Comtat Venassin (near Avignon),
which was the former capital of Popes (and a papal territory from
Medieval Ages to 1792). The Comtat Venassin Arms are red with two
GOLD St. Peter keys crossed.
Jerome Sterkers, 23 August 2000
Jerome is globally right. I just would like to make a slight
linguistical correction and add historical comments. The banner
of arms is shown here .
The correct name of the place is Comtat Venaissin. Comtat is
probably a Provencal deformation of Comte (County). The
inhabitants of Comtat Venaissin are called "Comtadins".
"Venaissin" comes from the city of Venasque, now a
village of ca. 600 inhabitants, but formerly the siege of the
diocese of Comtat (later transfered to Carpentras).
Concerning the city of Avignon and Comtat Venaissin, the story is
a bit difficult: Comtat Venaissin has been a Papal possession
since 1274, but Avignon had remained under the rule of the Counts
of Provence. In 1309, the French Pope Clement V (Bertrand de Got,
elected in 1305), followed the "advice" of the king of
France Philippe le Bel and moved officially to Avignon on 9 March
1309. He died in 1314 and the next Pope, Jean XXII, from Avignon,
was elected only two years later. Benoit XII (1335-1342), a
Cistercian monk, commanded the construction of the Old Palace
(Palais Vieux), looking like a fortress. The next Pope, Clement
VI (1342-1352) was much more interested in art and comfort and
commanded the construction of the New Palace (Palais Neuf) and
its rich decoration. Embelishments were carried on by Innocent VI
(1352-1362), Urbain V (1362-1370) and Gregor XI (1370-1378). The
papal city of Avignon became a place of tolerance and asylum for
the political refugees, such as the Italian poet Petrarco, and an
important Jewish community. The place became also unfortunately a
safe place for rioters, burglars and all kinds of criminals. The
Italians violently claimed the return of the Pope to Roma, and
called the era "the Babylon captivity".
Urbain V had moved to Roma in 1367 but came back three years
later because of the insurrectional situation of Italy. In 1376,
Gregor XI was convinced by St. Catherine of Siena to leave
Avignon against the willingness of the King of France. His death
in 1378 was the starting point of the Great Western Schism.
Clement VII (1378-1394), supported by the French cardinals and
the king of France, came back to Avignon. Benoit XIII (1394-1409)
lost the support of the king of France and left Avignon in 1403,
but his supporters resisted in the palace until 1411. In the same
time, anti-popes (who themselves called the French popes
antipopes) had been elected in Roma. The unity was restored only
in 1417 with the election of Martin V.
After the departure of the popes, Avignon remained a papal
possession and was ruled by a legat and later by a
vice-legat. After the French Revolution, the partisans of
rattachment to France won over the papists and the Assemblee
Constituante voted the annexion on 14 September 1791.
The Comtat was incorporated to the department of Vaucluse (named
after Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, from Latin "vallis clusa",
the closed valley), which still has an exclave in the department
of Drome, constituted by the municipality of Valreas, a.k.a. the
papal enclave.
Ivan Sache, 23 August 2000
I was checking the Vatican web site (<www.vatican.va> ) and they
have change the emblem on the home page to this one. Which in the inner
pages it is refered as the emblem for the Vacancy of the
Apostolic See.
Fred Drews, 4 April 2005
The emblem is used, I believe instead of the Vatican coat of
arms during the Vacancy (i.e. since the passing of one pope until
the election of the next).
As far as I am aware the Vacancy symbol did not found its place
on any flags for now. It is found however on the stamps issued in
several of the last vacancies.
Željko Heimer, 4 April 2005
Now, the Cardinal enthroned Pope maintains his Arms but
naturally changing its external ornaments, replacing the red cap
as crest which two games of tassels at flanks more another
attributes that corresponds with the Cardinal dignity with the
Tiara (closed mitre with ovoid form and three crowns, everything
in Gold) over the Chief and the two crossed keys (one of Gold and
another one of Silver) disposed behind the field in saltire and
rolled by cord in Gules (red). Once takes place the outcome that
lamentably is imminent [i.e., the death of Pope John Paul II],
the Arms of HH John Paul II will mantains the Tiara but will omit
the keys, since these symbolize the government of the Church as
much Sovereing State as Religious Institution, alluding naturally
to the "keys of the Kingdom of the Heaven" that Our
Lord Jesus Christ gave to Saint Peter constituing him First Pope.
Meanwhile "Vacant Seat" takes place (transition between
the decease of a Pope and election of its successor) the Church
Government was in charge of Cardinal School and all the
Eclesiastic Hierarchy; nevertheless, to the State effects, is
assumed by to so called "Camarlenge Cardinal" who
during the exercise of his functions will may use as Ensign of
his dignity the Papal Umbrella: it's in effect, an umbrella
enameled in Or and Gules and singularly ornamented.
Raul Pardo, 2 April 2005
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