Papal tiara
A tall crown shaped like a beehive, ringed by three crowns and topped by a small cross: the papal tiara. Popes no longer wear it, but it remains over the crossed keys on the arms of the Holy See.
Meaning
The Catholic Encyclopedia (1912) describes the tiara as “the papal crown”, shaped like a beehive, with a small cross at its highest point and three royal diadems, which give it the name triregnum. It was never a liturgical vestment: at Mass the pope wears a mitre, like any bishop, and the tiara was kept for processions and solemn acts of jurisdiction. Popes once wore it on the day of their coronation. Paul VI was crowned with a tiara given to him by the Archdiocese of Milan, then gave it to charity and took up a simple mitre in its place. He left the tiara and the crossed keys as the emblem of the Apostolic See, and that is where Catholics see it now: over the keys on the arms of the Holy See and the flag of Vatican City, with two ribbons, the lappets, hanging from it. Popes once put it on buildings as well: a sandstone coat of arms of Leo X from about 1515, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, sets the tiara and crossed keys over the Medici shield.
Origin and history
The tiara began as a cap. It is first mentioned in the life of Pope Constantine (708–715) in the Liber Pontificalis, under the name camelaucum, and the Catholic Encyclopedia’s author, Joseph Braun, thought it was hardly to be doubted that the model was the camelaucum of the Byzantine court. By about 1130 it had a circlet, as Suger of St Denis records; the Holy See’s account of Benedict XVI’s arms says the crown added in 1130 was a symbol of the Church’s sovereignty over the Papal States. Under Boniface VIII (1294–1303) a second crown was added. Why, Braun wrote, “cannot be determined”: perhaps love of pomp, perhaps a statement of the pope’s double authority. A third crown appears first in an inventory of the papal treasure of 1315 or 1316, and the earliest image of a tiara with three crowns is on the effigy of Benedict XII, who died in 1342, preserved at Avignon. The lappets at the back are seen first in thirteenth-century pictures, and were black. Some tiaras were made to impress: Julius II’s, by the Milanese jeweller Caradosso, was valued at 200,000 ducats.
Three crowns, more than one reading
No document records why the tiara gained its second and third crowns, and the readings have changed with the centuries. The crown of 1130 is explained as sovereignty over the Papal States. Once the tiara had lost its temporal meaning, the Holy See’s explanation of Benedict XVI’s arms said in 2005, the silver tiara with three gold crowns came to stand for the pope’s three powers: Sacred Orders, Jurisdiction and Magisterium.
A mitre in Benedict XVI’s arms
Benedict XVI chose not to put the tiara in his personal coat of arms and set a simple mitre over his shield instead. To keep the tiara’s meaning, the mitre is silver with three gold bands, the three powers, joined at the centre to show their unity in one person. His arms also added the pallium, which had not been part of papal heraldry in recent times. The tiara itself was not abandoned: it stays over the keys on the arms of the Holy See and of Vatican City.
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.Read next
- Next in Catholic symbolsRosaryA string of beads in five groups of ten, with a crucifix, used to pray the Rosary: a Catholic prayer of Hail Marys counted on the beads while meditating on events in the lives of Jesus and Mary.
- The same shape in Adinkra symbolsFuntunfunefu Denkyemfunefu (Siamese crocodiles)Funtunfunefu Denkyemfunefu are the Siamese crocodiles, two crocodiles with one stomach that still fight over food. The adinkra symbol stands for unity in diversity.
See also
Keys of St Peter, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Miraculous Medal, Marian cross, Monstrance, Chalice and host.
Sources
- Tiara, Joseph Braun, “Tiara”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912, The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907–1912), via New Advent, Definition; three periods; origin
- 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), Tiara; Mitre; Pallium
- 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 State of Vatican City
- 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
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from crosses or curves and waves.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research
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