The Triple Crown

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 9, 1911

In an article dealing with the papal coat of arms, the Ecclesiastical Herald has this to say of the Pope’s triple crown:—

The tiara, or triple crown, is nowadays of ovoid shape, and since the time of Benedictine XII has been encircled by three crowns of gold, and surmounted with a small terrestrial globe and its cross. The three crowns by heraldic tradition, and as can be seen on the tiara of the Pontifical Jubilee of Leo XIII, 1902, are of three different orders; the larger and lower one is a royal crown of fleur-de-lis; the middle is a princely, or ducal crown; and the upper, a count’s coronet. These three crowns, called often the tri-regnum, are interpreted to represent the Pope’s attributes as king, prophet or doctor, and high priest, as expressed also in the coronation ceremony, when the first cardinal-deacon imposes it.