What do the symbols mean on the Benedict's flag?

Answer 1

Shield

The shape of the shield varies from artist to artist. In the official rendering of the coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI the shape chosen is that of a chalice. In heraldry, the herald and the person granted arms also have considerable leeway in the contents of the shield. By long-standing tradition this was the only place within the papal coat of arms that changed from pope to pope.

Blazon

The blazon (the written description, in terminology peculiar to heraldry, of the contents of the coat of arms) given on the Vatican website is as follows:

Gules, chape ployé Or, with the scallop shell Or; the dexter chape with a moor's head Proper, crowned and collared Gules, the sinister chape a bear trippant Proper, carrying a pack Gules belted Sable.'

This means, in non-technical English:

A red shield mantled in gold and with a gold scallop shell; the right (for the bearer of the shield, the left for the viewer) part of the mantle has a moor's head in its natural colour (brown) wearing a red crown and red collar; the left part of the mantle has a walking bear in its natural colour (brown) carrying a red pack tied with black bands.

Note 1. A mantle outside the shield does not normally contain charges (an heraldic term for objects). Within the shield, as here, it is a religious symbol, and indicates ideals inspired in monastic spirituality. It is also a reference to the Order of Saint Benedict.

Note 2. The black bands tying the red pack is one of several existing contraventions of the heraldic rule of tincture, which in general does not allow the placing of colour on colour or metal (gold or silver) on another metal.

Since there is no single way to blazon a given set of arms, another description could be:

Per chevron ployé throughout Or and Gules, dexter a Moor's head proper, crowned and collared Gules, and sinister a bear passant in bend proper carrying a pack Gules belted Sable, in base an escallop Or.

This is equivalent to:

A shield divided by curved lines draping from the upper center of the shield to either side. The upper sections are gold (yellow) and the base is red. In the shield's upper right (as observed by the person carrying the shield) is a Moor's head in natural color wearing a crown and collar (the head is also called a "Moor of Freising" or "caput ethiopicum"). In the upper left is a walking brown bear in natural color bearing a red pack fastened with black belts (the bear is also known as "Corbinian's bear"). In the base is a gold scallop shell.

ChargesThe charges of the arms - the Moor's head, Corbinian's bear, and scallop - appeared on the Pope's previous coat of arms, used when he was Archbishop of Munich and Freising. However, they not only relate to his origins, but also to his trust in God, to which Christians are called so as to endure the world's travails and hardships, as well the Pope's calling to spread this faith to others.

Scallop shell

The symbolism of the scallop shell is multiple. Saint Augustine was once walking along the seashore, meditating on the unfathomable mystery of the Holy Trinity. A boy was using a shell to pour seawater into a little hole. When Augustine asked him what he was doing, he replied, "I am emptying the sea into this hole." Thus did Augustine understand that man would never penetrate to the depths of the mystery of God. While a doctoral candidate in 1953, Fr. Joseph Ratzinger wrote his dissertation on The People of God and the House of God in Augustine's Teaching is always about the Church, and therefore has a personal connection with the thought of this great Doctor of the Church.

The foundational meaning behind the scallop shell is its allusion to the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. In the Roman Catholic Church, a sea shell is often used to pour water over the head of the child being baptized. Thus, a sea shell is used to evoke the imagery of this rite which makes one a part of the Body of Christ and is foundational to the Christian life.

The shell also stands for pilgrimage. When topped with a scallop shell a pilgrim's staff, or "Jacob's staff," is the sign of a pilgrim. In Church art it is a symbol of the apostle Saint James the Great, and his sanctuary at Santiago de Compostela in Spain, perhaps the principal place of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages. This symbol alludes, as well, to "the pilgrim people of God," a title for the Church which Joseph Ratzinger championed at the Second Vatican Council as peritus (theological adviser) to Cardinals Josef Frings of Cologne and Julius Döpfnerof Munich-Freising (his episcopal predecessor). When he became Archbishop he took the shell in his coat of arms. It is also found in the insignia of the Schottenkloster in Regensburg, where the major seminary of that diocese is located, a place where Benedict taught as a professor of theology.

Finally, the pilgrimage symbolism of the shell may also refer both to the reconfigured role of the pope as not only ruler, but also pilgrim among the peoples and nations of the world. Pope Paul VI-who created Joseph Ratzinger as a cardinal in 1977-was often called the "Pilgrim Pope" for his ground-breaking travels to the Holy Land, India, the United States, Colombia, the Philippines, and elsewhere. This precedent was greatly elaborated upon by Pope John Paul II with his historic trips, numbering over a hundred. As a result, Benedict may be paying homage to these men and the new role for the papacy, which he himself must now continue and make his own.

Moor of Freising

The Moor's head is an heraldic charge associated with Freising, Germany. The origins of the Moor's head or caput ethiopicum in Freising is not entirely known. Typically facing to the viewer's left (dexter in heraldic terms), it appeared on the coat of arms of the old principality of Freising as early as 1316. While there are several variations on Moor's heads in heraldry, the one used by Freising and adopted by Benedict XVI is always crowned and collared. Generally, in this form, the lips, crown, and collar are always red, while the face and hair are brown and the eyes, white. If an earring is shown, it is shown gold. Some theories of its original reference include:

• Prester John, a legendary (possibly semi-mythical) Christian priest and king whose realm shifted in folklore from India to, eventually, Ethiopia

• Balthazar, one of the Magi, by some legends a Moor

• Saint Maurice, a Roman-Egyptian martyr popular in Germany as a defender of the Faith and presumed to be a Moor

• Saint Zeno, frequently shown as a Moor

• Saint Sigismund, often confused historically with Saint Maurice

• Saint Corbinian, founder of the Diocese of Freising, mistakenly thought to have been a Moor

  Corbinian's bear

A legend states that while traveling to Rome, Saint Corbinian's pack horse was killed by a bear. He commanded the bear to carry the load. Once he arrived, he released it from his service, and it returned to Bavaria. The implication is that "Christianity tamed and domesticated the ferocity of paganism and thus laid the foundations for a great civilization in the Duchy of Bavaria." At the same time, Corbinian's bear, as God's beast of burden, symbolizes the weight of office that Benedict now carries.