Pope Leo XIV

The new Pontiff

Symbology in the coat of arms of Pope Leo XIV: Augustinian meanings and references

Pope Leo XIV chose to keep the cardinal's coat of arms with Augustinian symbols and deep meanings, such as the lily, the closed book and the pierced heart, which recall purity, the search for truth and love according to St. Augustine

13 May 2025

3' min read

Once elected Pope, a prince of the Church can change his cardinal's coat of arms.

The new pontiff Robert Francis Prevost has chosen, instead, to keep the motto and iconographic motifs that already characterised his insignia as a cardinal unchanged. However, instead of the red hat - the so-called galero with 15 red tassels - that topped the shield, there now appears the mitre (the tall, rigid headdress from the base of which descend two red cloth ribbons called infulas) and the two keys of St Peter. Crossed to form an X, they represent the dual nature of the power conferred by Christ on the first of the apostles. The golden key is a symbol of the spiritual power of the Catholic Church to forgive sins and open the gates of Paradise; the silver key is a symbol of papal authority over the earth and the Vatican State, of which he is absolute monarch, with full legislative, executive and judicial powers.

In the coat of arms, divided diagonally into two sectors, a stylised white lily stands out in the top left-hand corner on a blue field; it indicates purity and innocence and in ecclesiastical heraldry is often associated with the Virgin Mary. To the bottom right, on a light ivory background, is a closed book on which is placed a red heart pierced by an arrow. The image recalls that of the religious order of the Augustinians, to which Pope Leo XIV belongs.

The closed book indicates the mystery of the Truth that reveals itself little by little, a central theme in the theology of St Augustine who, in his Confessions, spoke of cor inquietum (restless heart): 'You have created us for yourself, Lord, and our heart will be restless until it finds rest in you', while, about his conversion, he wrote: 'You have pierced my heart with your Word'.

The heart is a symbol of love, the most important gift God has given mankind and synonymous with freedom. And it was precisely to love that Augustine dedicated a famous exhortation:

"If you keep silent, keep silent out of love.

If you speak, speak out of love.

If you correct, you correct out of love.

If you forgive, forgive out of love.

May the root of love always be in you, for only from this root can love spring forth.

Love, and do what you will.

Love in adversity endures, in prosperity it moderates, in sufferings it is strong, in good works it is cheerful, in temptations it is sure, in hospitality it is generous, among true brethren it is glad, among false ones it is patient.

It is the soul of sacred books, it is the virtue of prophecy, it is the salvation of mysteries, it is the power of science, it is the fruit of faith, it is the wealth of the poor, it is the life of the dying.

Love is everything'.

In its essential features, therefore, Leo XIV confirmed the earlier coat of arms, chosen for his episcopal consecration, as well as the motto "In Illo uno unum", a passage from St Augustine's commentary on Psalm 127 in which the Church father explains that although Christians are many and different from one another "in the one Christ they are one". The need to live unity and communion in the Church is part of the charism of St. Augustine's order and is also Leo XIV's way of acting and thinking, the heart of his mission.