Papal coats of arms are the personal coat of arms of popes of the Catholic Church. These have been a tradition since the Late Middle Ages, and has displayed his own, initially that of his family, and thus not unique to himself alone, but in some cases composed by him with symbols referring to his past or his aspirations.Christoph F. Weber, "Heraldry", in Christopher Kleinhenz, Medieval Italy (Routledge 2004 ), vol. 1, p. 496"Arms of the Popes from 1144–1893" in John Woodward, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry (London and Edinburgh 1894), pp. 158–167 This personal coat of arms coexists with that of the Holy See.
Although Boniface VIII (1294–1303), Eugene IV (1431–1447), Adrian VI (1522–1523) and a few others used no crest above their escutcheon, from John XXII (1316–1334) onward the papal tiara began to appear (a custom maintained until Nicholas V)Collenberg, p. 692 and, from the time of Nicholas V's successor, Callistus III (1455–1458), the tiara combined with the keys of Peter.Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI Vatican. Accessed 15 March 2008.Collenberg, p. 693
Even before the early modern period, a man who did not have a family coat of arms would assume one upon becoming a bishop, as men did when knightedDavid Brewster, The Edinburgh Encyclopædia (Routledge 1999 ), vol. 1, p. 342 or on achieving some other prominence.Christine de Pizan (1364 – c. 1430), The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry (English translation: Penn State Press 1999 , p. 216 Some who already had an episcopal coat of arms altered it on being elected to the papal throne. The last pope who was elected without already being a bishop was Gregory XVI in 1831 and the last who was not even a priest when elected was Leo X in 1513.Religion News Service, "Popes and conclaves: everything you need to know"
In the 16th and 17th century, heraldists also made up coats of arms for earlier popes, especially of the 11th and 12th centuries.Pastoureau 1997, pp. 283–284 This became more restrained by the end of the 17th century.Ottfried Neubecker (1976). Heraldry: Sources, Symbols and Meaning. McGraw-Hill. , p. 224
External ornaments
Papal coats of arms are traditionally shown with an image of the papal tiara and the keys of Peter as an external ornament of the escutcheon. The tiara is usually set above the escutcheon, while the keys are in saltire, passing behind it (formerly also en cimier, below the tiara and above the shield). In modern times, the dexter and sinister keys are usually shown in gold (or) and silver (argent), respectively. The first depiction of a tiara, still with a single coronet, in connection with papal arms, is on the tomb of Boniface VIII (d. 1303) in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran.John Woodward, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry, 1894, p. 151. Benedict XVI, in 2005, deviated from tradition in replacing the tiara with the mitre and pallium (see Coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI).
The two keys have been given the interpretation of representing the power to bind and to loose on earth (silver) and in heaven (gold), in reference to : "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The gold key signifies that the power reaches to heaven and the silver key that it extends to all the faithful on earth, the interlacing indicating the linking between the two aspects of the power, and the arrangement with the handles of the keys at the base symbolizes that the power is in the hands of the pope."The symbolism of the keys is brought out in an ingenious and interpretative fashion by heraldic art. One of the keys is of gold, the other of silver. The golden key, which points upwards on the dexter side, signifies the power that extends even to Heaven. The silver key, which must point up to the sinister side, symbolizes the power over all the faithful on earth. The two are often linked by a cordon Gules as a sign of the union of the two powers. The handles are turned downwards, for they are in the hand of the Pope, Christ's lieutenant on earth. The wards point upwards, for the power of binding and loosing engages Heaven itself." Bruno Bernhard Heim, Heraldry in the Catholic Church: Its Origin, Customs and Laws (Van Duren 1978 ), p. 54)
The oldest known representation of the crossed keys beneath the papal tiara in the coat of arms of the Holy See dates from the time of Pope Martin V (1417–1431). His successor Pope Eugene IV (1431–1447) included it in the design of a silver coin.Claudio Ceresa, "Una sintesi di simboli ispirati alla Scrittura" on L'Osservatore Romano, 10 August 2008 Martin V also included the keys in his personal arms (those of the Colonna family); however he did not show them as external ornaments, instead placing them in chief on the shield (this example was followed by Urban V and VIII and Alexander VII; Nicolas V seems to have used just the crossed keys and the tiara in an escutcheon. The placing of the keys above the shield becomes the fashion in the early 16th century, so shown on the tomb of Pius III (d. 1503). Adrian VI (1522/3) placed the keys in saltire behind the shield.John Woodward, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry, 1894, p. 153f.
High Middle Ages
Heraldry developed out of military insignia from the time of the First Crusade.
The first papal coats of arms appeared when heraldry began to be codified in the 12th to 13th centuries. At first, the popes simply used the secular coat of arms of their family. Thus, Innocent IV (1243–1254), who was born Sinibaldo Fieschi, presumably used the Fieschi coat of arms, as did Adrian V (Ottobuono Fieschi), the nephew of Innocent IV. According to Michel Pastoureau, Innocent IV (1243–1254) is likely the first who displayed personal arms, but the first of whom a contemporary coat of arms survives is Boniface VIII (1294–1303).
Modern sources show attributed arms of the popes of the second half of the 12th century; thus, editions of the Annuario Pontificio of the 1960s presented the arms of the popes beginning with Innocent III (1198–1216),"Stemmi dei Sommi Pontefici dal sec. XII ad oggi" in Annuario Pontificio 1969 (Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, Vatican City 1969), pp. 23*-27* and John Woodward gave those of the popes from Lucius II (1144–1145) onward, though he noted that "it seems probably that many of the early popes made little if any use of their family arms". Thus, Innocent III (Lotario di Segni, 1160–1216) and Gregory IX (Ugolino di Segni, 1145–1241) may have used the coat of arms of the counts of Segni.
The following papal coat of arms should be considered traditional, lacking contemporary attribution. For the popes of noble families, the coats of arms of the family is substituted, and for commoners, the traditional coat of arms as shown in early modern heraldic sources.
Arms Blazon Pope NotesGules a bear rampant proper.John Woodward, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry, 1894, p. 158Lucius II (Gherardo Caccianemici, 1144–1145) Argent, a crescent azure, in chief a label gules.Eugene III (Bernardo Pignatelli, 1145–1153) Per fess or and bendy or and vair in chief two lions rampant affrontés vert, overall a fess gules.Anastasius IV (Corrado Demetri, 1153–1154) (Arms unknown.)Adrian IV (Nicholas Breakspear, 1154–1159) Or.Alexander III (Rolando Bandinelli, 1159–1181)Often depicted (as in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran) as Or, diapered.Lozengy azure and argent.Lucius III (Ubaldo Allucingoli, 1181–1185) Quarterly gules and argent, in the centre point a sieve in profile or.Urban III (Uberto Crivelli, 1185–1187) Gules two swords argent in saltire, the hilts in chief or, between four mullets of the last.Gregory VIII (Alberto di Morra, 1187) Chequy argent and gules a chief of the Empire.Clement III (Paolo Scolari, 1187–1191) Bendy gules and argent on a chief of the second a rose of the first, the chief soutenu by a divise or, thereon an eel naiant azure.Celestine III (Giacinto Orsini, 1191–1198) Arms of the Orsini family.Gules, an eagle chequy sable and or, crowned of the second.John Woodward, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry, 1894, p. 159 Innocent III (Lotario dei Conti, 1198–1216) Arms of the Conti di Segni. The eagle's crown in the Conti arms arose in the 14th century, but is anachronistically also shown in this 13th-century pope's arms. Bendy gules and or; in chief a rose surmounted by a martlet and supported by two lions respectant gules.Honorius III (Cencio Savelli, 1216–1227) Arms of the Savelli family, also used by Honorius IV (Giacomo Savelli, 1285–1287). Woordward blazons the field as per fess argent and or [though this is questionable, given that it violates the tincture rule] rather than bendy gules and or and also includes over all a fess vert on the field and adds in base three bends of the last [gules].Arms of the Conti di Segni (vide supra, Innocent III).Gregory IX (Ugolino dei Conti, 1227–1241) Gules a lion rampant or holding a castle triple-towered or.Celestine IV (Goffredo Castiglioni, 1241) Argent three bends azure (or Bendy argent and azure).Innocent IV (Sinibaldo Fieschi, 1241–1254) Also used by his nephew Adrian V (Ottobuono Fieschi, 1276)Arms of the Conti di Segni (vide supra, Innocent III and Gregory IX)Alexander IV (Rinaldo dei Conti, 1254–1261) Quarterly 1 and 4 azure a fleur-de-lis or; 2 and 3 argent a rose gules.Urban IV (Jacques Pantaléon, 1261–1264) Woodward blazons with different tinctures: 1 and 4 or a fleur-de-lis azure; 2 and 3 azure a rose or.Or an eagle displayed sable vanquishing a dragon gules. Clement IV (Gui Foucois, 1265–1268) His family arms are described by Woodward as Or an eagle displayed sable, on a bordure gules ten bezants (different in the lack of a dragon and the addition instead of a bordure), but the tomb of Clement IV at Viterbo has a shield charged with Or six fleurs-de-lis azure in orle; these do not appear to have been his personal arms and may instead refer to his French origin.John Woodward, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry, 1894, p. 159.Per fess embattled gules and azure. Gregory X (Teobaldo Visconti, 1271–1276) Arms of the House of Visconti.Azure three pallets or, on each as many fleur-de-lis of the field. Innocent V (Pierre de Tarentaise, 1276) Quarterly, 1 and 4 argent three crescents gules; 2 and 3 sable two pallets or. John XXI (Pedro Julião, 1276–1277) Arms of the Orsini family (vide supra, Celestine III) Nicholas III (Giovanni Orsini, 1277–1280) Argent a bend vairy gules and or. Martin IV (Simon de Brion, 1281–1285) Woodward records Martin IV's arms as Per fess gules and or, in chief a human arm, issuant from the sinister flank proper, vested and manipled ermine.John Woodward, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry, 1894, p. 160.Arms of the Savelli family (vide supra, Honorius III). Honorius IV (Giacomo Savelli, 1285–1287) Argent a bend between two estoiles azure, on a chief of the last three fleurs-de-lis or. Nicholas IV (Girolamo Masci, 1288–1292) Sometimes the arms are emblazoned with three (rather than two) estoiles.Or a lion rampant azure over all a bend gules. Celestine V (Pietro Angelerio, 1294–1294) Uncertain attribution, likely posthumous or attributed. Occasionally shown with the lion rampant sinister. Not attested before the XVI century.Maiorano F., Mari S., Gli stemmi superstiti dell’Abbazia di S. Spirito del Morrone e l’enigma di un’insegna trecentesca, in Bullettino della Deputazione Abruzzese di Storia Patria.
Late Middle Ages and Renaissance Note that some of the images of the coats of arms shown below anachronistically include the external adornments of the papal tiara and the keys of Peter. These ornaments were not in use before the 1450s.