Keys of St Peter

Two keys crossed in saltire, one gold and one silver: the keys of the kingdom of heaven that Christ promised to St Peter, and the emblem of the Holy See and the papacy.

Catholic symbols. Also called crossed keys, gold and silver keys, keys of heaven, keys of the kingdom, papal keys, St Peter’s keys.

Meaning

The keys come from Christ’s words to Peter in Matthew’s Gospel: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church reads the “power of the keys” as authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church, and the power to “bind and loose” as authority to absolve sins, to pronounce on doctrine and to make decisions of discipline. Crossed, the keys are the insignia of the Holy See. They stand behind the shield of every pope’s arms and, under the Papal tiara, on the arms and the yellow and white flag of Vatican City. In art two keys are St Peter’s own attribute; Britannica adds that this is why he is often shown at the gates of heaven, and why he is the patron saint of locksmiths. The symbol belongs to the Catholic Church, and its meaning is tied to the papacy as Catholics understand it.

Origin and history

The image is older than the Gospel. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) explains Christ’s promise by Isaiah 22, where “the key of the house of David” is given to Eliacim, son of Helcias, as the symbol of full authority in the kingdom of Judah. The early Church Fathers, the same article says, almost always quoted the promise of the keys as proof of the Church’s power to forgive sins. St Augustine wrote that the authority to bind and loose was given to Peter as representing the whole Church, not as a purely personal gift.

Peter received his keys in art before he received them in heraldry. On sarcophagi of the fifth century Christ hands Peter keys where earlier carvings showed a scroll; from the end of the sixth century the keys, usually two but sometimes three, are Peter’s attribute, and they have stayed so. The Holy See dates its own use of the two crossed keys as its official insignia to the fourteenth century. Setting them in saltire behind a pope’s personal shield was, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia’s heraldry article, a practice begun by Adrian VI in 1522.

Gold and silver

The Holy See describes its arms as red with two keys crossed like the cross of St Andrew, one gold and one silver. The gold key, on the right, alludes to power in the kingdom of heaven; the silver key, on the left, to the spiritual authority of the papacy on earth. Their bits point up toward heaven and their grips down, “into the hands of the Vicar of Christ”, and the cord that ties the grips together stands for the bond between the two powers. The bits are cut in the form of a cross, the Secretariat of State adds, “not for the mechanisms of a lock, but as a religious symbol”. The explanation of Benedict XVI’s arms gives an older reading beside this one: the two keys “have been variously interpreted as symbols of spiritual and temporal power”.

Where you’ll see it

The keys are on every papal coat of arms, behind the shield, with the tiara or, since Benedict XVI, a mitre above it. They are on the flag of Vatican City with the tiara over them, and in pictures of St Peter, whose attribute they are. One absence has its own meaning. When a pope dies, the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, his arms are shown at the funeral with the tiara but without the keys. Popes also put the keys on buildings: the Victoria and Albert Museum has a sandstone coat of arms of Leo X, carved in Florence about 1515, in which the papal device of crossed keys and tiara tops the Medici shield of six balls.

Where you’ll see it today

whatdoesthissymbolmean.comFlag of Vatican CityVatican City’s flag is square and divided upright into yellow, by the pole, and white, with crossed keys under the papal tiara on the white half. The Holy See says the keys are those Christ gave to St Peter: the gold key stands for power in the kingdom of heaven, the silver key for the spiritual authority of the papacy on earth.

Sources

Flag, Coat of Arms and Seal, Secretariat of State, “Flag, Coat of Arms and Seal” of the Holy See and the State of Vatican City, Holy See (vatican.va), Coat of Arms of the Holy See; Flag
The Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Holy See, “The Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI” (2005), Holy See (vatican.va), Keys
Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 522–556, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part One, “The Mysteries of Christ’s Life”, Holy See (vatican.va), no. 553
Power of the Keys, George Joyce, “Power of the Keys”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910, The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907–1912), via New Advent, Introduction; (1) In the Fathers
St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Johann Peter Kirsch, “St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911, The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907–1912), via New Advent, Representations of St. Peter
Ecclesiastical Heraldry, A. C. Fox-Davies, “Ecclesiastical Heraldry”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910, The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907–1912), via New Advent, Arms of the papacy
Stemma of Pope Leo X (Victoria and Albert Museum), Victoria and Albert Museum, Stemma of Pope Leo X, sandstone, Florence, about 1515, museum number A.6-1960, Victoria and Albert Museum, Summary; physical description
St. Peter the Apostle (Britannica), Encyclopaedia Britannica, “St. Peter the Apostle”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Article text

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Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research

Added October 9, 2026. Last updated October 10, 2026.

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