Flag Of Vatican City

The flag is a vertical bicolour of yellow and white, with the white half charged with the coat of arms of Vatican City (a papal tiara and the crossed keys of Saint Peter). It was modeled after the 1808 flag of the Papal States, a yellow-and-white bicolour defaced with the tiara and keys in the centre.

Vatican City

Flag of Vatican City, version since 2023
Use	National flag
Adopted	7 June 1929; 94 years ago (1929-06-07)
Design	A vertical bicolour of yellow and white, charged with the coat of arms centred on the white portion

The flag of Vatican City has sometimes also interchangeably been referred to as the flag of the Holy See.

The 2023 Fundamental Law of Vatican City State states: "The flag of the Vatican City State is made up of two vertically divided sides, one yellow adhering to the hoist and the other white, and in the latter carries the tiara with the keys, all according to the model on Annex A of this Law".

Current regulations

The flag is described in Article 23 of the 2023 Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, with a visual model appended as Attachment A.

Previous regulations

The flag is described in Article 19 of the 1929 Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, with a visual model appended as Attachment A.

The flag is also described in Article 20 of the 2000 Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, with a visual model appended as Attachment A. The 2000 Fundamental Law of Vatican City State's Attachment A, shows a square flag.

In 2010, the Apostolic Nunciature to Germany stated that the flag does not have to be square.

During Pope Francis's 2018 visit to Ireland, the South Dublin County Council refused to fly the Vatican flag; a local petrol station began to fly the flag in response.

A Police Scotland list of flags which could be a criminal offence to display "in a threatening manner" included the Vatican flag; sectarianism is common in Scotland, especially in Glasgow, and the Vatican flag could supposedly be flown as a sign of Catholic identity to intimidate Protestant neighbours.

 

Before 1808, the Papal States commonly used a bicolor, yellow-red flag (also described as 'amaranth and red'), which was derived from the colours of the Holy See's coat of arms, as well as being the two tradional colours of the Senate and the Roman people. In 1798, Napoleon established the Roman Republic, which introduced a black, white, and red flag; after the Papal rule was restored, Pope Pius VII restored the Papal cockade, which was described as red and yellow.

In 1808, Pope Pius VII ordered the Vatican's Noble Guard and other troops to replace red color with white, in order to distinguish them from the troops that had been incorporated into Napoleon's army.

In 1803, the Papal States started using a white merchant flag with the Papal coat of arms in the centre. This flag was made official on 7 June 1815. On 17 September 1825, it was replaced with a yellow and white flag which took its colours from the materials of the key (yellow for gold, white for silver). These colors were probably taken from the 1808 flag of the Palatine guard. This was the first bicolour used by the Papal States and the ancestor of the modern flag of Vatican City. The merchant flag also served as a state flag on land.

Starting in 1831, the papal infantry flew square yellow and white flags. At first, they were diagonally divided, but after 1849 they were vertically divided like the merchant flag. The last infantry colour, adopted in 1862, was a plain square white and yellow flag.

On 8 February 1849, while Pope Pius IX was in exile in Gaeta, a Roman Republic was declared. The new government's flag was the Italian tricolor with the motto "Dio e Popolo" on the central stripe. The papal government and its flags were restored on 2 July 1849. On 20 September 1870, the Papal States were conquered by Italy.

After the Lateran Treaty was signed in 1929, papal authorities decided to use the 1825–1870 merchant flag as the state flag of the soon to be independent Vatican City state. The treaty came into effect on 7 June 1929.

Previous versions

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    Flag of the Papal States until 1808
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    Flag of the Papal States between 1803 and 1825
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    Flag of the Papal States in periods 1825-1849 and 1849-1870
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    Flag of the Papal States used between 1862 and 1870
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    Flag of Vatican City from 1929 to 2001
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    Flag of Vatican City from 2001 to 2023

 

 

An incorrect version of the flag has been commonly used. In this version, the visible inner lining of the papal tiara is colored red instead of white, and a different shade of yellow or gold is used in some portions of the coat of arms. This was used as Wiki Commons' version of the Vatican flag between 2006 and 2007 and between 2017 and 2022, and has since become widespread on the Internet.

• Coat of arms of Vatican City
• List of flags of the Papacy
• History of Christian flags
• Christian Flag
• Index of Vatican City-related articles