Last modified: 2005-04-23 by dov gutterman
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taken from the official Vatican
site.
Yellow (or golden) is associated with golden keys - symbols of
Saint Peter (popes are the direct descendants of Saint Peter's
office). The keys are supposedly the keys to paradise.
Željko Heimer, 21 May 1996
I do not know the exact significance of the cord (although it
might symbolize the "unity" of the Church or perhaps
God's covenant with man?) , but it ties the keys together at the
point at which they cross each other, and then forms a loop
between the 'handles' of the keys with tassels hanging down.from
the centre knot.
Christopher Southworth, 12 Febuary 2004
You get a tassseld cord as part of cardinals hat (an authority
symbol ?).
From church encycolopedia <www.newadvent.org>:
"Cincture - The prayer now recited by
the priest in putting on the girdle, "Gird me, O Lord, with
the girdle of purity", etc., strongly suggests that this
vestment should be regarded as typical of priestly chastity. Like
the other Mass vestments, the girdle requires to be blessed
before use. Some kind of cincture, we may further note, is
included in almost every form of religious or ecclesiastical
costume. In certain religious orders it receives a special
blessing, and in such familiar instances as the Cord of St.
Francis or the Girdle of St. Augustine it is sanctioned and
indulgenced by the Church as indicating a profession of
allegiance to a particular institute. Again, the broad sash,
which forms part of the civil attire of bishops, priests, and
other ecclesiastics, has been imitated, apparently for sthetic
reasons, in the costume of choir boys and servers at the altar.
It should be said that this last development, while not expressly
prohibited so long as certain rules are observed regarding colour
and material, is not in any way prescribed or recommended by
ecclesiastical authority. "
" Ecclesiastical Heraldry - The
ecclesiastical hat is low, flat, wide-brimmed and depending from
either side are cords and tassels.
The Holy See - Strictly speaking there are no official arms for
the papal sovereignty. Although the crossed keys of St. Peter
displayed upon an azure field, have occasionally been used for
that purpose, and with such intention, they are more properly a
device in the nature of external ornaments to the shield, and as
such will be again referred to later."
"The Holy See - The emblems of the papacy
consist of the tiara and the crossed keys of St. Peter "to
bind and to unloose", one key being of gold and one of
silver, the two being usually tied together with a cord. These
are usually, and most properly, placed in saltire behind the
personal arms of His Holiness (a practice originated by Adrian
VI, in 1522), the shield being surmounted by the tiara, but the
keys are frequently disposed in saltire below the tiara and above
the shield, and, as the emblem of the papacy, the tiara and keys
are often used alone without any shield at all."
Hugh Watkins, 12 Febuary 2004
At <www.vatican.va>:
" Since the XIV Century, the two crossed keys have been the
official insignia of the Holy See. The gold one, on the right,
alludes to the power in the kingdom of the heavens, the silver
one, on the left, indicates the spiritual authority of the papacy
on earth. The mechanisms are turned up towards the heaven and the
grips turned down, in other words into the hands of the Vicar of
Christ. The cord with the bows that unites the grips alludes to
the bond between the two powers."
Phil Nelson, 13 Febuary 2004
Oddly, the arms of the Vatican, as shown here, do not have the
horizontal binding centre cord, and so make more sense
topologically. Although it is difficult to tell from them, I'd
say that on the arms at least, you do the following.
1. Form the keys into a saltire, handles down, with a loop of
cord vertically behind the keys.
2. Pass the two cord ends over the junction of the keys and down
in front of them, through the loop you have formed.
3. Pass each loop through the handle of one key from the front.
4. Tie the two ends into a single tassle.
This, you will note, is quite different to what is shown on the
flag.
James Dignan, 13 Febuary 2004
The illustration I have on file 'appears' to be official, but
I cannot be certain since I don't know when and how William
Crampton obtained it. However, (whether official or not) it
definitely shows a single, horizontal strand of red cord across
the keys. Incidentally, this model also shows the arms as
being one-half of flag width high, which is rather larger than we
show here.
Christopher Southworth, 13 Febuary 2004
According to <www.vatican.va>:
"The symbolism is drawn from the Gospel and is represented
by the keys given to the Apostle Peter by Christ.
The insignia is red with the two keys crossed as the Cross of St.
Andrew, one gold and one silver, with the cotter pointed upwards
and towards the sides of the shield. Two cords hang from the
grips of the keys, usually red or blue.
The shield is surmounted by the tiara or triregnum.
Two ribbons hang from the tiara, each with a patent cross.
Ordinarily the keys have the mechanical part placed up, facing to
the right and the left and usually in the form of a cross, not
for the mechanisms of a lock, but as a religious symbol. The
grips vary according to artistic taste, from the Gothic to the
Baroque.
Since the XIV Century, the two crossed keys have been the
official insignia of the Holy See. The gold one, on the right,
alludes to the power in the kingdom of the heavens, the silver
one, on the left, indicates the spiritual authority of the papacy
on earth. The mechanisms are turned up towards the heaven and the
grips turned down, in other words into the hands of the Vicar of
Christ. The cord with the bows that unites the grips alludes to
the bond between the two powers."
Paolo Montanelli, 20 October 2004
This is a bit confusing, as they are crossed. Perhaps it
should say, "The gold one, with its *handle* on the
[heraldic] right [viewer's left]..."
Nathan Lamm, 20 October 2004
I believe that the answer should be fairly simple, in fact,
accroding to the heraldical rules. The first mentioned key (the
golden one) is making the proper bend, as the first and thus
having precedence while the second one, the silver key is, well,
secondary and is those set in the bend sinistre. Now, I do not
know exact heraldic balzon, but I would assume that there is
something in the line of above. Anyway, it seems that
unlike the state arms, the personal arms of the popes have the
kays set the other way around, at least for the several recent
popes (probably before that time the issue was not that precisely
set).
The first charge in the saltire is set in bend sinistre, so /,
while he other is in bend, this way: \ The golden key on vatican
flags has the "ring" towards bottom