The flag of the dwarf state-enclave, located inside the territory of the Italian capital, was adopted on June 7, 1929. It was then that the Lateran Agreements were signed and the Vatican State, an independent state of the Holy See, was created.
Description and proportions of the Vatican flag
The Vatican flag is a rare case when the flag has the shape of a rectangle, the sides of which are equal. The square field of the Vatican flag is vertically divided into two equal parts. The left part of the cloth, closest to the shaft, is made in golden yellow. The opposite part of the flag is white.
On the white field of the Vatican flag there is an image of the Vatican coat of arms, which is applied at the same distance from the upper and lower edges of the cloth.
The coat of arms of the Vatican on the flag is a state symbol that represents the keys crossed at right angles. One of them is made of gold paint with silver inserts, the other, on the contrary, is silver with gold elements.
The symbols represent the keys to Rome and Paradise. Above them is the papal tiara - a triple crown crowned with a cross. On the flag of the Vatican, the tiara is made in gold, and two white ribbons with golden crosses fall down from it.
Tiara at all times served as a symbol of papal dominion. Its shape finally took shape at the beginning of the 14th century, and the three tiara crowns applied to the Vatican flag are symbols of the Holy Trinity and the three statuses of the church.
History of the Vatican flag
The modern state flag of the Vatican was created in the image of its predecessor. The flag of the Papal States appeared in 1808 and served as the official symbol of the theocratic state, which stretched across central and northern Italy and was part of the Italian kingdom. The region was headed by the Pope.
The flag of the Papal States was a square cloth, divided vertically into two equal parts. The left side at the base of the flag was golden yellow, and the second was snow-white. The flag served as an official symbol until 1870, when the Papal States ceased to exist.
For the next several decades, the status of the Holy See remained unresolved, until the Lateran Accords were concluded in 1929, creating the Vatican city-state with a new flag. It is he who decorates today the flagpoles of the country, whose area is only 44 hectares.
