Papal coats of arms

(Giovanni Battista Cybo, 1484–1492) as shown in the contemporary Wernigerode Armorial. The coat of arms of the House of Cybo is here shown with the papal tiara and two keys argent in one of the earliest examples of these external ornaments of a papal coat of arms (Pope Nicholas V in 1447 was the first to adopt two silver keys as the charges of his adopted coat of arms). 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 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. 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. ==High Middle Ages==

(d. 1159, born Nicholas Breakspear, the only Englishman to occupy the papal throne) did not use a personal coat of arms; Nevertheless, he was given attributed arms (showing a broken spear) in this 17th-century portrait. 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), 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. ==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. ==Popes of the early modern period==

Most popes of the 16th to 18th centuries came from Italian noble families, but there were some exceptions, such as Sixtus V (1585–1590), who was of low birth. ==Popes of the modern period==

The last person elected as pope who was not already an ordained priest or monk was Leo X (Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici) in 1513. Thus, throughout the Early Modern period, the elected pope already had a coat of arms: if he did not have a family coat of arms to begin with, he would have adopted one upon being made bishop. Upon his election as pope, he would continue using his pre-existing coat of arms, in some cases with heraldic augmentations. This tradition was continued into the modern period. ==Antipopes==

Note that 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. ==Related coats of arms==

File:Emblem of the Holy See usual.svg|Coat of arms of the Holy See File:Coat of arms of Vatican City (2023–present).svg|Coat of arms of Vatican City File:Sede vacante.svg|Coat of arms used during sede vacante File:Stemma di Agostino Bausa, palazzo arcivescovile di Firenze.JPG|An example of ecclesiastical heraldry ==Notes==