Flag
The Pontifical Flag or the Flag of Vatican City is made of a two-coloured banner, consisting in yellow (towards the hoist) and white, with crossed keys surmounted by the papal Tiara in the centre. The top of the flagpole has a spear decorated with a cockade in the same two colours of the flag, trimmed with gold tassels.
In the past, the flag of the Papal States was yellow and red (to be precise reddish rose, the colours of the Holy See’s coat of arms), the two colours that were traditionally used by the Roman Senate and the people of Rome. They were substituted with white and yellow in 1808, when Pius VII ordered his Noble Guard and the other armed corps that had remained loyal to him, to adopt a new cockade with the said colours, to distinguish them from the remaining troops that had been incorporated into the French army, who were permitted by General Sestio A. F. Miollis to use their old cockade.
It was hoisted for the first time by the Marina Mercantile (Merchant Navy). However, the oldest Pontifical flag in yellow and white hails back to 1824, but the two colours were divided diagonally. They were later arranged vertically at the request of Pius IX, who upon his return from exile in Gaeta, also replaced the three-coloured band on the hoist side (red, white and green), added in 1848, with the papal coat of arms. It was only after the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy on 11 February 1929, that the Pontifical flag took on the appearance it has today, the flag of a foreign State which enjoys the same protection given to all others (Article 299 of the Italian Penal Code). The modern flag was hoisted for the first time on 8 June 1929.
One should not confuse the Pontifical flag with the Banner of the Holy Roman Church, a symbol of her spiritual sovereignty over the whole world. The Banner of the Holy Roman Church consisted in a red cloth, with an image of Saint Peter, that was sometimes accompanied by the image of Saint Paul. The images were substituted with the emblem of the crossed keys surmounted by a white cross, at the request of Innocent III ((1198-1216), who explained the reason behind the change in a written account.
During the Pontificate of Boniface VIII (1294-1303), the Banner of the Holy Roman Church took on the appearance that it still has today: a banner made of crimson silk, sprinkled with numerous symmetrically-arranged six-pointed stars, embroidered with gold, bearing the symbolic crossed keys in the centre, surmounted by a conopaeum or a sinnicchio (pavilion), ending in a two-point pennant, each point decorated with a golden bow. The banner was attached to a long golden pole, hollowed out at the handle and topped by a small metallic spear, hung with golden tassels. The Banner of the Holy Roman Church accompanied the Pontiff when he travelled and during important religious and civil solemnities (Corpus Christi processions, papal possessions, solemn cavalcades) and was carried into battle by troops, including at the Crusades and Lepanto.
The two mosaic frames on the sides of the rebuilt Triclinium Leoninum (1743) depict the oldest image of the Banner. They faithfully depict the original mosaics of the 8th and 9th century. The left mosaic shows “Jesus Christ giving the keys to Pope Saint Sylvester and the Banner to Constantine”. The mosaic on the right shows “Saint Peter giving the pallium to Leo III and the Banner to Charlemagne. There are also various paintings that show the Banner hoisted beside the papal throne.
Both in times of war and in times of peace, protection of the Banner of the Holy Roman Church was entrusted to persons of high rank, who assumed the title and the task of “Bearer of the Banner of the Holy Roman Church”, also known as Gonfalonier of the Church. And because this position was a great honour, perhaps the greatest that popes could confer on a layperson, it was often reserved for Kings, like James II the Just (1264-1327), the King of Sardinia and Corsica, who received the title from Boniface VIII, Ladislaus the Magnanimous, (1376-1414), King of Naples and Sicily and King of Hungary, who was appointed by Innocent VII.
Among the illustrious people who were honoured with the position, are also Louis Dauphin of France, who was appointed by Eugene IV (1431-47); Francesco Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, appointed by Julius II at the start of the 1500’s; Odoardo Farnese, fifth Duke of Parma and Piacenza, who was appointed by Gregory XV (1621-23); Carlo Barberini who was appointed by his brother, Urban VIII (1623-44), and following his death in 1630, Torquato Conti, Duke of Guadagnolo. Innocent XI (1676-89) appointed Giovanni Battista Naro (Marquis) as Gonfalonier with the right to pass the title to all the firstborn sons in his family. When the Naro family died out, the title passed to the Patrizi Montoro who also inherited the Naro family estate.
Emphasizing the importance of the dignity of the Bearer of the Banner of the Holy Roman Church, at the beginning of his pontificate, Clement XI (1700-21) ordered that during solemn cavalcades, the bearer should be escorted by two captains of the Cavalleggeri, (cavalry) in response to protests that had arisen regarding those who wished to honour the Banner of the Holy Roman Church and not the bearer. When Pius VII instituted the new corps of the Pontifical Noble Guard in 1801, to replace the dissolved Cavalleggeri, the Bearer of the Banner was made part of the Guard and given the rank of Lieutenant General, taking his place in between two Captains of the same Guard, during cavalcades, as tradition warranted.. The final pontifical act of benevolence in favour of the Bearer of the Banner of the Holy Roman Church was that of Pius IX. He ordered that the bearer, who wore a decorative special badge with the word Vexillifer, around his neck, should always be a member of the Cameriere segreti.