Flag of the Vatican City
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The flag of the Vatican City consists of two vertical bands of gold (hoist side) and white with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the Papal Tiara centered in the white band. It is one of only two square country flags in the world, the other being the flag of Switzerland. It is the flag that breaks the rule about European flags: white and gold must be never used because white and gold symbolized metal.
The flag was adopted on June 7, 1929. In the same year Pope Pius XI signed a treaty with Italy, ensuring that the Papal State, albeit its territory had been decreased, will continue to exist as an independent state. In previous centuries (especially in the 19th century) the Papal States used a purple and gold flag, which resembled the current one.
The square flag is vertically divided into two halves, the half closer to the flagpole is yellow, the other is white. The coat of arms can be found in the white half. The coat of arms consists of:
- the papal tiara (as used under the pontificate of Pius XI);
- the two keys which represent the keys to Heaven (according to the Gospel of Matthew 16:19) given by Jesus Christ to St. Peter. The popes are regarded as the successor of Peter, and the gold and silver keys have been significant elements in the symbolism of the Papal State since the 14th century. The gold represents spiritual power, while the silver key represents wordly power.
- a red cord connecting the keys.
The yellow and white of the flag also refers to the keys – in heraldry yellow is used to represent gold, while white represents silver.
Albania • Andorra • Armenia • Austria • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Belgium • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Bulgaria • Croatia • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Georgia • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Italy • Kazakhstan • Latvia • Liechtenstein • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Republic of Macedonia • Malta • Moldova • Monaco • Montenegro • Netherlands • Norway • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Russia • San Marino • Serbia • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • Turkey • Ukraine • United Kingdom • Vatican City
Dependencies and autonomous entities
Abkhazia •
Adjara •
Åland •
Akrotiri and Dhekelia •
Crimea •
Faroe Islands •
Gibraltar •
Guernsey •
Isle of Man •
Jersey •
Nagorno-Karabakh •
Nakhichevan
de:Flagge der Vatikanstadt et:Vatikani lipp el:Σημαία του Βατικανού es:Bandera de la Ciudad del Vaticano eu:Vatikano Hiriko bandera fr:Drapeau du Vatican ko:바티칸 시국의 국기 hr:Zastava Vatikana is:Fáni Vatíkansins it:Bandiera vaticana he:דגל קריית הוותיקן lt:Vatikano vėliava hu:A Vatikán zászlaja nl:Vlag van Vaticaanstad ja:バチカンの国旗 pl:Flaga Watykanu pt:Bandeira do Vaticano ro:Steagul Vaticanului sr:Застава Ватикана fi:Vatikaanivaltion lippu sv:Vatikanstatens flagga zh:梵蒂冈国旗
