File talk:Emblem of the Holy See within 3to2.svg

What exactly does this image depict? It's certainly neither the coa of the Holy See nor the coa of the Vatican City, as the golden key is directed left (like in the personal coa of the Pope). But it's also not the personal coa of the/a Pope, as there's no personalized shield in the centre.--84.153.182.40 00:08, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

In its correct form, as originally created, the image depicted the charge on the coat of arms of the Holy See, an entity headed by a succession of individual popes and thus distinct from any of those individuals. The charge is as indicated by reliable sources such as Donald Lindsay Galbreath, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry (W. Heffer and Sons, 1930), p. 9 and Bruno Bernhard Heim, Heraldry in the Catholic Church: Its Origin, Customs and Laws (Van Duren 1978 ISBN 9780391008731), p. 54. See also en:Wikipedia:Coats of arms of the Holy See and Vatican City.

However, as altered by User:Fry1989, the image is of the charge on the coat of arms not of the Holy See but of Vatican City State, which came into existence in 1929, while the Holy See is many centuries older. Fry has been misled by the images given on the website of the Press Office of the Holy See, images that have been judged to be unreliable sources for the interpretation that Fry imposes on them. Esoglou (talk) 07:27, 13 September 2012 (UTC)