Coat of arms of the Vatican: photo, meaning, description
Coat of arms of the Vatican
The most amazing state in the world occupies a tiny territory in the center of Rome and at the same time has no boundaries for its influence on other world powers, in which the main religion is Catholicism. It is not surprising that the coat of arms of the Vatican is a reflection of the main mission of the state and has quite understandable symbols..
Keys to paradise
The main colors of the coat of arms are in red, gold and silver tones. The field is depicted as a scarlet shield. The central role is played by two crossing keys. And above them appears the image of the rich headdress of the leader of the Vatican and all Catholics - the Pope. This is a papal tiara, shown as a crown of gold, richly trimmed and adorned with precious stones.
According to one version, the keys depicted on the main symbol open the doors from Rome and from paradise, where all the inhabitants of the planet earth dream of getting. According to another version, it is argued that both keys open the doors of heaven, but one shows the way to bliss for men, and the other for the representatives of the beautiful half of humanity..
City-state
Connoisseurs of Italian history know that the rise of the Vatican as an independent state was not easy. In the twentieth century, this issue was very acute, until in 1929 the so-called Lateran agreements were signed, according to which the Vatican gained independence from Italy. This fateful decision for the Roman Catholic Church was followed by the appearance of official symbols. The amazing city within the city received its own flag and coat of arms. The city-state flag has two stripes: white and yellow.
On the one hand, the coat of arms is evidence of secular power, but since the Church at all times claimed absolute rule in the world, it was «borrowed» attributes of secular power, including the coat of arms.
The keys were present on the main symbol of the papacy already in the XIV century. True, it was believed that they belonged to the Apostle Peter. The coat of arms depicts «permissive» and «binder» the keys were crossed, and they were tied with a golden cord. Papal tiara and then crowned this composition.
Since those who ascended the papal throne were considered the successors of Peter, his keys took the place of the main symbols. There is one more feature - each Pope has the right to his own coat of arms, on which the tiara and keys are mandatory. And the rest of the elements of the personal symbol of a particular pope are associated with his biography, place of birth or upbringing, significant life events.