Yellow and white: the colors of the Vatican flag, between history and symbolism.
For flag lovers, the meaning of the Vatican flag is well known, but those who simply watch it waving above St. Peter's Basilica or among the crowd at a papal...
For flag lovers, the meaning of the Vatican flag is well known, but those who simply watch it waving above St. Peter's Basilica or among the crowd at a papal event often miss the messages hidden in its colors and symbols.
Yet, behind that simple combination of yellow and white lies an ancient and fascinating story of spiritual power, identity, and epochal transformations.
The Golden and Silver Keys: Origin of the Colors
In heraldry, yellow and white correspond to gold and silver.
They are the colors of the keys of St. Peter, symbol of the papacy and its double power:
🔑 Golden Key = spiritual power
🔑 Silver Key = Temporal Power
Two crossed keys, which are also found at the center of the Vatican coat of arms, placed under the papal tiara: an emblem of authority, but also of service.
When the Vatican changed sides
Not everyone knows that before 1808 the papal flag was red and yellow, like that of the city of Rome.
It was Pope Leo XII, in 1825, who introduced white and yellow to differentiate the papal troops from the Roman ones at a time of great political tension.
The current form – with two vertical fields and the coat of arms in the white part – was made official in 1929, with the birth of the Vatican City State, following the Lateran Pacts.
What do these colors really represent?
🎨 Yellow (gold) → divine light, glory, eternity
🎨 White (silver) → peace, purity, spirituality
Not just colors: they are visual values that speak to the heart of faith and the universality of the Christian message.
A tribute to the yellow of the flag
Divine light, glory, and eternity: this is the meaning behind the color yellow, which we chose for the official T-shirt of the 2025 Youth Jubilee.
A tribute to the symbols of the Vatican flag, certainly, but above all to what the color represents: a dedication to young people, to their spiritual energy, to their ability to believe, to change, to build.
Young people are the divine projection par excellence. The future of all humanity is entrusted to them. Theirs is the task of never giving up, even when reality seems dull, indifferent, and inattentive. Theirs is the right—and the duty—to feel part of a unique event, which invites them to look beyond, to walk together, to remember... with pride.
👉 Wear your yellow, carry it with you, make it part of your journey:
