National Arms of Vatican City

	NATIONAL ARMS OF VATICAN CITY Country : Vatican City Loading map... {"minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"mappingservice":"leaflet","width":"250px","height":"250px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":7,"defzoom":14,"layers":["OpenStreetMap"],"image layers":[],"overlays":[],"resizable":false,"fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":true,"cluster":false,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clustermaxradius":80,"clusterspiderfy":true,"geojson":"","clicktarget":"","imageLayers":[],"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":41.9035999999999972942532622255384922027587890625,"lon":12.4532000000000007133849067031405866146087646484375,"icon":""}],"imageoverlays":null}

Official blazon
English	blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

The coat of arms of Vatican City State is officially described in article 20 of the Fundamental Law of Vatican City State in force since 22 February 2001, which repeats the contents of article 19 of the original Fundamental Law of Vatican City State adopted on 7 June 1929.

The arms show the crossed keys of St. Peter, the gatekeeper of Heaven. Vatican city is the seat of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, the successor of St. Peter, the first bishop. The tiara, or papal crown, is the typical symbol of the Popes as head of the Catholic church.

Before 1929 the Papal States used the arms of the ruling Pope in front of the two crossed keys, and with the tiara. There were no State arms.

Image gallery

The arms of the Papal State with the arms of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903)
The arms on a matchbox label, 1960s
The arms on a wast bin (2023)
The arms on a Slovak postal cancellation

Literature: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/documents/insigne/sp_ss_scv_stemma-bandiera-sigillo_it.html

Vatican City heraldry portal

This page is part of the Vatican City heraldry portal	Heraldry of the World
Civic heraldry: National Arms of Vatican City Heraldic literature of Vatican City Total pages in the Vatican City section : 74 of which images : 77	Other heraldry: Ecclesiastical heraldry Military heraldry Educational heraldry Institutional heraldry Corporate heraldry Heraldic postcards Heraldic stamps Personal arms