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  Stamps Illustrating the flag of the Vatican City State: Euro Unites Europe Issue, Scott 1275 (2004) Vatican City and Singapore: 25th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations, Scott 1337 (2006) Vatican City and Latvia: Centennial of Concordat, Scott 1803 (2022) Vatican City and Panama: Centenary of Diplomatic Relations, Scott 1857 (2024) 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations: European Union and Council of Europe, Scott 1754 (2020) A couple of years ago, VPS Webmaster Marvin Lanahan came across an article entitled Vexing Vexillology: Even the Vatican gets its flag wrong. Actually, his wife Mary found the article in the Texas Catholic Herald on June 13, 2023, which is referenced below (it was originally published by the Catholic News Service). First off, what is vexillology? It is simply defined as the study of flags. When looking at the history of the flag for the Vatican City State, one needs to go back to the 1929 Fundamental Law of Vatican City State to find the first description of the flag, which is found in Article 19. The Fundamental Law has been updated twice: in 2000 by Pope John Paul II and recently, in early 2023, by Pope Francis. The latest version of the Fundamental Law provides the following description of the flag: "The flag of the Vatican City State is made up of two vertically divided sides, one yellow adhering to the hoist and the other white, and in the latter carries the tiara with the keys, all according to the model on Annex A of this Law"  The Flag of Vatican City State By Goran Tek-en From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain The image above of the Vatican flag comes from the 2023 "Fundamental Law of Vatican City State" (Attachment A), which contains the official depiction of this version. This 2023 flag is very similar to the flag from the 1929 Fundamental Law of Vatican City State (page 35). Here is another image of the Vatican flag--which is incorrect (notice the red area at the base of the tiara):  The Flag of Vatican City State: Incorrect Version By Tgbsww From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain Based on the Catholic News Service article, as well as one found on the Catholic News Agency website, various edited versions of the flag have cropped up over the years. The Vatican flag is intended to be square in shape, but over the years rectangular versions have been released. Stylized versions of the flag have also been produced, as illustrated in the stamps above. One of the main sources for inaccurate images of the flag is Wikipedia, which has displayed versions of the flag where the image of the crossed keys and tiara on the flag has been edited. Father William Becker, an expert on Vatican vexillology, states that this situation is not unique to the Vatican, saying that it is: kind of common with other countries too, especially those that don’t really take pains to standardize their design. [A] flag maker is likely to go to a source like Wikipedia, and it may vary in its accuracy.The latest period where the wrong image of the Vatican flag appeared on Wikipedia dates from 2017 to 2022, when it was changed back to the correct image. Father Becker states that it is incumbent on the Vatican, and other countries as well, to monitor the distribution of its flag design, and that it: would be nice if somebody at the Holy See could, through their website or wherever, make some design specifications more available … design specifications that manufacturers could rely on a bit more.The Vatican now provides a large PDF copy of the 2023 flag online. Click on the link below for a look at the current official rendering of the Vatican City State flag. A book by Father Becker, Vatican Flags: Keys & Crowns since 1800, serves as an excellent review of the history of the Vatican City State flag. A link below provides a concise review of the history and design of the flag by Father Becker. Author's Note: I was very fortunate to connect with Father William Becker, who provided additional insights into the topics discussed in this article. He also provided the link to his book, which is given in the references. Many thanks to Father Becker for his contributions to this presentation. REFERENCES: |
