Ecclesiastical heraldry had the same origin and developed contemporaneously with general heraldry, which had become general throughout England, France, Italy and Germany by the end of the 12th century. Ecclesiastical heraldry appears first in
seals, nearly all
vesica-shaped. When
Pope Gregory IX waged war against
Emperor Frederick II in 1228, papal troops were described by
Richard of San Germano as "bearing the sign of the keys" (
clavigeros hostes or
clavesignati). The keys appeared on their banners and were sewn onto their clothing over their breasts. The conflict is consequently called
War of the Keys.
Keys and their arrangement The earliest
blazoning of the arms of the Holy See is that found in
Froissart's Chronicles of 1353, which describes them as "gules two keys in saltire argent". From the beginning of the 14th century, the arms of the Holy See had shown this arrangement of two crossed keys, most often with a gold key in
bend and a silver in
bend sinister, but sometimes with both keys or (gold), less often both keys silver, as described by Froissart. The practice by which the gold key is placed in bend and the silver in bend sinister was slow in establishing itself, In 1952–1953 the English Heraldry Society gave the blazon of the arms of the Holy See as "Gules a key
or [("gold" or "yellow" in heraldic terminology)] in bend above a key
argent [("silver" or "white" in heraldic terminology)] in bend sinister, both wards upwards, the bows united by a cord or, above the shield a tiara, its three crowns or [("gold")], the mitre argent [("silver")]". In his 1978 book,
Heraldry in the Catholic Church, Archbishop
Bruno Heim described the same arrangement. and in the arms of the Papal States.
Tiara By the end of Froissart's 14th century the
papal tiara was included in the coat of arms of the Holy See according to Galbreath Claudio Ceresa, on the other hand, says the earliest known evidence of its adoption dates from the following century, in the pontificate of
Martin V (1417–1431). ==Papal States and Vatican City==