{"id":110,"date":"2013-03-14T09:16:05","date_gmt":"2013-03-14T13:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=110"},"modified":"2024-11-21T10:27:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T15:27:24","slug":"papal-flag-waves-over-airwaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/papal-flag-waves-over-airwaves\/","title":{"rendered":"Papal flag waves over airwaves"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

By James Breig<\/a><\/p>\n

The historic resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of his successor have focused the media spotlight not only on the Vatican, but also on the papal flag<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A rare square flag,* it is split vertically in two, half yellow and half white. That\u2019s a change from the original flag of the Papal States, which was yellow and red. The switch was made in 1808 by Pope Pius VII, and the current design was finalized in 1929, when a concordat was signed between Italy and the Vatican.<\/p>\n

In the center of the white field is the Vatican seal, primarily made up of crossed keys (one gold, one silver) and the papal tiara. The keys recall the Gospel passage about Jesus giving the keys of the heavenly kingdom to St. Peter (Matthew 16:19). Roman Catholics believe that popes are the direct successors of Peter.<\/p>\n

The golden key refers to the kingdom of heaven, while the silver one \u201cindicates the spiritual authority of the papacy on earth,\u201d according to the Vatican website (www.vatican.va<\/a>). It adds that \u201cthe cord\u2026that unites the grips [of the keys] alludes to the bond between the two powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tiara \u2013 a triple crown \u2013 represents the pope\u2019s authority as \u201cfather of kings, governor of the world and Vicar of Christ,\u201d as noted on the same website.<\/p>\n

In addition to the Vatican\u2019s coat of arms, the new pope gets one of his own. Papal coats of arms, which have existed since the 13th<\/sup> century, carry the keys and tiara seen on the flag. Pope Benedict\u2019s coat of arms was unusual because it also contained the images of two living things:<\/p>\n

*a brown bear with a pack on its back, recalling a legend about a German bishop who rode a bear to Rome; and<\/p>\n

*a Moor wearing a crown, a common image in heraldry in Benedict\u2019s native Bavaria.<\/p>\n

(*Only one other nation has a square flag: Switzerland.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By James Breig The historic resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of his successor have focused the media spotlight not only on the Vatican, but also on the papal flag. A rare square flag,* it is split vertically in two, half yellow and half white. That\u2019s a change from the original flag… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[39,37,38,35,36],"class_list":["post-110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-catholic","tag-papal-flag","tag-pope","tag-pope-benedict-xvi","tag-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Papal Flag & The Historic Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our historian shares some information about the papal flag and the Vatican in the wake of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/papal-flag-waves-over-airwaves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Papal Flag & The Historic Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our historian shares some information about the papal flag and the Vatican in the wake of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/papal-flag-waves-over-airwaves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-14T13:16:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-21T15:27:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/papal-flag-waves-over-airwaves\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/papal-flag-waves-over-airwaves\/\",\"name\":\"The Papal Flag & The Historic Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-14T13:16:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-21T15:27:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\"},\"description\":\"Our historian shares some information about the papal flag and the Vatican in the wake of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/papal-flag-waves-over-airwaves\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/papal-flag-waves-over-airwaves\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/papal-flag-waves-over-airwaves\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Papal flag waves over airwaves\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\",\"name\":\"James Breig\",\"description\":\"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. 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