Papal coats of arms are the personal coat of arms of popes of the Catholic Church. These have been a tradition since the Late Middle Ages, and has displayed his own, initially that of his family, and thus not unique to himself alone, but in some cases composed by him with symbols referring to his past or his aspirations.^[1][2][3] This personal coat of arms coexists with that of the Holy See.

Although Boniface VIII (1294–1303), Eugene IV (1431–1447), Adrian VI (1522–1523) and a few others used no crest above their escutcheon, from John XXII (1316–1334) onward the papal tiara began to appear (a custom maintained until Nicholas V)^[4] and, from the time of Nicholas V's successor, Callistus III (1455–1458), the tiara combined with the keys of Peter.^[1][5]

Even before the early modern period, a man who did not have a family coat of arms would assume one upon becoming a bishop, as men did when knighted^[6] or on achieving some other prominence.^[7] Some who already had an episcopal coat of arms altered it on being elected to the papal throne.^[1] The last pope who was elected without already being a bishop was Gregory XVI in 1831 and the last who was not even a priest when elected was Leo X in 1513.^[8]

In the 16th and 17th century, heraldists also made up coats of arms for earlier popes, especially of the 11th and 12th centuries.^[9] This became more restrained by the end of the 17th century.^[10]

Papal coats of arms are traditionally shown with an image of the papal tiara and the keys of Peter as an external ornament of the escutcheon. The tiara is usually set above the escutcheon, while the keys are in saltire, passing behind it (formerly also en cimier, below the tiara and above the shield). In modern times, the dexter and sinister keys are usually shown in gold (or) and silver (argent), respectively. The first depiction of a tiara, still with a single coronet, in connection with papal arms, is on the tomb of Boniface VIII (d. 1303) in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran.^[11] 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 Matthew 16:18–19:

"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.^[12]

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.^[13] 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.^[14]

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 (Ottobon de Fieschi), the nephew of Innocent IV.^{[citation needed]} 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).^[15]

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),^[16] 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".^[3] Thus, Innocent III (Lothaire de Segni, 1160–1216) and Gregory IX (Ugolin de Segni, 1145–1241) may have used the coat of arms of the counts of Segni.^[17]

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.

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.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2013)

• Nicholas V (Tommaso Parentucelli; 1447–1455) was the first to use the keys of Peter as heraldic device. He would remain the only pope to choose a coat of arms upon his election (and not use his family arms) until the 18th century (Pope Pius VI). Whether this choice was a demonstration of humility, or due to a lack of a family coat of arms (Parentucelli was the son of a physician) is not known.^{[24][need quotation to verify]}
• Coat of arms used by Callixtus III (Alfons de Borja, 1455–1458). Beginning with Callixtus III (successor of Nicholas V who used the keys of Peter as heraldic charges), popes began using the keys of Peter with the tiara placed above them as external ornaments of their coats of arms.^[24]
• Coat of arms used by Pius II (Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini, 1458–1464) and by Pius III (1503, born Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini). Francesco Todeschini was received as a boy into the household of Aeneas Silvius, who permitted him to assume the name and arms of the Piccolomini family (his brother Antonio being made Duke of Amalfi during the pontificate of Pius II).
• Coat of arms used by Paul II (1464–1471)
• Coat of arms used by Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere, 1471–1484) and by his nephew Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere, 1503–1513)
• Coat of arms used by Innocent VIII (1484–1492)
• Coat of arms used by Alexander VI (1492–1503), the second Borgia pope, a coat of arms derived from that of the Borgia family with two keys saltire and a tiara.
• Coat of arms used by Julius II (1503–1513), the second Della Rovere pope.

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.

• Leo X (1513-1521), the first of the Medici popes. The "augmented coat of arms of the House of Medici, Or, five balls in orle gules, in chief a larger one of the arms of France (viz. Azure, three fleurs-de-lis or) was granted by Louis XI in 1465.^[25]
• Adrian VI (Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens (or Dedel), 1522-1523) was a commoner of Utrecht. The tinctures he used are doubtful. The arms showed quarterly, 1 and 4 three tent hooks, 2 and 4 a lion rampant. The hooks may be sable or vert, the lion may be azure or argent.^[25] Adrian VI was the first pope to display his arms in the fashion which became standard, with the crossed keys in saltire passing behind the shield.^[14]
• Clement VII (1523-1534), the second of the Medici popes
• Paul III (1534-1549) Or, six fleurs-de-lis azure, 3. 2. 1.^[25]
• Julius III (1550-1555) Azure, on a bend gules fimbriated and between two olive [sometimes laurel] wreaths or, three mountains, each of as many summits, of the last.^[25]
• Marcellus II (1555), Azure, on a terrace in base vert, a deer lodged argent, between six wheat-stalks [or bulrushes, in reference to Psalm 42] or.^[25] Marcellus' family name was Cervini degli Spannocchi. In Italian, Cervo means deer and Spannocchi references the stalks of wheat. ^[26]
• Paul IV (1555-1559) Gules, three bands argent^[25]
• Pius IV (1559-1566), the third of the Medici popes, seems to have assumed the "unaugmented" coat of arms, ''Or, six balls in orle gules^[25] Pius IV was of the Medici family of Melegnano, alleged branch of the Florentine Medici's. As such this Lombard-Milanese branch used the "unaugmented" arms of Medici until later period when they assumed the arms of ducal branch with the augmentation of France.
• Pius V (1566-1572)
• Gregory XIII (1572-1585)
• Sixtus V (1585-1590), born Felice, son of Pier Gentile (also known as Peretto Peretti), into a poor family. He later adopted Peretti as his family name in 1551, and was known as "Cardinal Montalto". His coat of arms was D'azur au lion d'or armé et lampassé de gueules tenant un rameau d'or à la bande de gueules chargée en chef d'une étoile d'or et en pointe d'un mont à trois cimes d'argent.^{[clarification needed]}
• Urban VII (Giovanni Battista Castagna, pope for just thirteen days in 1590)
• Gregory XIV (Niccolò Sfondrati, 1590–1591), son of Francesco Sfondrati
• Innocent IX (Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, 1591)
• Clement VIII (Ippolito Aldobrandini, 1592–1605), used the coat of arms of the Aldobrandini family of Florence
• Leo XI
  (1605), the fourth of the Medici popes
• Paul V (Camillo Borghese, 1605–1621). Paul V shows the imperial eagle of the Hohenstaufen in chief, a tradition in Italian heraldry adopted by the Ghibelline faction during the War of the Guelphs and Ghibellines
• Gregory XV
  (1621-1623)
• Urban VIII
  (1623-1644)
• Innocent X
  (1644-1655), with a Guelph chief (modified version of the arms of the king of Naples).
• Alexander VII
  (1655-1667)
• Clement IX
  (1667-1669)
• Clement X
  (1670-1676)
• Innocent XI
  (1676-1689)
• Alexander VIII (Pietro Vito Ottoboni, 1689–1691).
• Innocent XII
  (1691-1700)
• Clement XI
  (1700-1721)
• Innocent XIII (Michelangelo Conti, 1721–1724) like Pope Innocent III (1198–1216), Pope Gregory IX (1227–1241) and Pope Alexander IV (1254–1261) was a member of the Conti di Segni, using its coat of arms, which since the 14th century had been mostly shown with the eagle crowned oriental or (also described as in chief a ducal coronet or as the crown is shown somewhat above the eagle's head)
• Benedict XIII
  (1724-1730)
• Clement XII
  (1730-1740)
• Benedict XIV
  (1740-1758)
• Clement XIII
  (1758-1769)
• Clement XIV
  (1769-1774)
• Pius VI
  (1775-1799)

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.

• Coat of arms of the Vatican City.
• Flag of Vatican City.
• Ecclesiastical heraldry