VATICAN PAPAL FLAG

The Roman Catholic Church is the world's largest single religious body, and comprises 23 "particular Churches," or Rites, all of which acknowledge a primacy of jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome and are in full communion with the Holy See and each other. The flag of the Vatican City consists of two vertical bands of gold and white with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the Papal Tiara centered in the white band. The flag was adopted on June 7, 1929, the year when Pope Pius XI made the treaty with Italy, setting up a new independent state governed by the Popes, who in 1870 had lost their territories with the final incorporation into Italy of the previously existing much larger Papal States.