The vatican flag: a sovereign state with its own flag

THE VATICAN FLAG: A SOVEREIGN STATE WITH ITS OWN FLAG

The papal flag consists of two equal vertical stripes of yellow and white, charged with the insignia of the papacy on the white stripe ( triple crown or tiara over two crossed keys ), one of gold and one of silver, tied with a red cord and two tassels. The division of the crown represents the teaching, sanctifying and ruling offices of the pope. The keys symbolize his jurisdictional authority.

The papal flag is a national flag as it is the standard of the Supreme Pontiff as the sovereign of the state of the vatican city. It's also universally accepted by the faithful as a symbol of the supreme spiritual authority of the holy father.

The flag was created on June 7, 1929 at the moment of the declaration of the vatican as separated country from the rest of Italy. In the same year Pope Pius XI signed a treaty with Italy, ensuring that the Papal State. Even if the extension of the vatican territory had been decreased, it 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. If today you want to have an idea of how it looked like the flag of the vatican before the current one, you can see the flag of the majority of Rome located on top of the Capitol hill, near the Roman Forum. This flag is dark red and yellow, which are the colors of Rome today.

The yellow and white of the flag also refers to the keys – in heraldry yellow is used to represent gold, while white represents silver.

The square flag is vertically divided into two halves, the half closer to the flagpole is yellow, the other is white.