Flag of Vatican City

Meaning and history of the flag of Vatican City

Vatican City's flag is one of only two square national flags, along with Switzerland's. It is divided vertically into two equal halves: yellow (or gold) at the hoist and white at the fly. At the center of the white half are the crossed keys of St. Peter, topped by the papal tiara, rendered in yellow, gray, and red.

The yellow and white represent the gold and silver keys that, according to Christian tradition, Christ gave to the apostle Peter, a symbol of the Pope's spiritual and temporal authority. The two crossed keys, one gold and one silver, symbolize the power to bind and loose granted to St. Peter and his successors. The papal tiara's three superimposed crowns represent the Pope's threefold authority as father of kings, ruler of the world, and vicar of Christ.

Vatican City's flag was adopted on June 7, 1929, with the signing of the Lateran Treaty, which established Vatican City as an independent state. Before Italian unification in 1870, the Papal States used a similar flag. The square shape and vertical two-color division give it an instantly recognizable appearance. It is the flag of the world's smallest state by both area and population, and the only one that explicitly represents a religious institution as a form of government, the Vatican being an elective theocracy.

You can view the flag of Vatican City in high resolution above and download it in several sizes for personal, educational or reference use. To explore more, visit the full Vatican City profile, its map, or the current local time in Vatican City.