The Key on Coats of Arms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vatican City

In Matthew 16:19, Jesus tells Peter, "I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven." The seal of Pope Pius II in the middle of the 15th century established the use of gold for one key and silver for the other. San Marino's coat of arms shows three white towers, while Luxembourg's shows a red rampant lion, and Liechtenstein's has four quadrants with different designs plus a shield in the center.

Answer: Cuba

On the Cuban coat of arms, a shield is divided into three parts. A gold key is on the top third in blue water with land on its left and right, symbolizing Cuba as the key to the Americas. Havana's coat of arms shows a gold key below three white towers, which represent three castles that defended Havana.

The shield, or escutcheon, on the Jamaican coat of arms shows a red cross on a white field. On each arm of the cross and in its center are five pineapples. Cyprus, in the Mediterranean, and the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean, are not in the Western Hemisphere.

Answer: Mauritius

The coat of arms of Mauritius was designed in 1906 by the Mayor of Johannesburg, Johann van der Puf. The other quadrants on the Mauritius seal show a gold ship on blue (upper right quadrant), three green palm trees on gold (upper left), and a white star on blue on the lower left quadrant.

In identifying quadrants on the escutcheons in heraldry, right and left are the opposites of how they appear to the viewer. Madagascar has a round seal, rather than a coat of arms with escutcheon. It shows an outline map of Madagascar above a zebu head, both red on a yellow background. Kiribati is in the Pacific Ocean, and Martinique is in the Caribbean.

Answer: Bremen

Bremen's silver key was first seen in 1366 and represents Saint Peter, the patron saint of Bremen Cathedral. Bremen still calls its state the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, harking back to the influential Hanseatic League that monopolized the trade of Northern Europe in the Middle Ages.

The city-state also includes the seaport of Bremerhafen, north of Bremen on the Weser River. Berlin's coat of arms shows a black bear, while Hamburg's shows a white castle with three towers. Köln, Cologne in English, is not a city-state, although only Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich are larger, but is simply the largest city of the state of North Rhein-Westphalia, whose capital is Düsseldorf.

Answer: Surrey

In 1965 Surrey County adopted a coat of arms featuring two golden keys of Saint Peter, lying diagonally across a shield divided into a blue half on the right and a black on the left. The keys represent the Abbey of St. Peter at Chertsey, which once held a large amount of land in Surrey. Below the keys on the blue half is a woolpack, representing the wool trade of medieval Surrey, and above the keys on the black field is a sprig of oak, a symbol from the former Earls of Surrey.

Answer: Gibraltar

The key on Gibraltar's coat of arms goes all the way back to the Moorish conquest of Spain in 711. At that time an inscription accompanied the coat of arms and read, "Seal of the noble city of Gibraltar, the Key of Spain." Today that inscription is no longer part of the coat of arms. Gibraltar's coat of arms is the oldest of any overseas possession of the United Kingdom.

Answer: Quebec City

The two keys of the coat of arms of Quebec City represent Quebec's historic role as the capital of New France and the city's present role as provincial capital. Of course, the maple leaf represents Canada. The motto means "I shall put God's gift to good use". An interesting connection of Canada and Albany on the latter's coat of arms is the appearance of a beaver and of a Native American.

Although St. Louis is linked to France by its namesake, there is no connection between the city's seal and either France or Canada. Hamburg is in Germany and also has no special ties with Canada or France.

Answer: Poznan

Once again the key is the symbol for St. Peter. Poznan's cathedral is the oldest in Poland. Mieszko I, probably Poland's first king, was baptized in Poznan and buried in its Cathedral, the building of which was begun after his baptism in 966. (Dresden is in Germany, not Poland).

Answer: Trier

Trier's archbishop was also one of the seven Electors, the nobles and bishops who chose the Holy Roman Emperors. Munich's coat of arms shows a monk, from which the city's name is derived. Cologne's coat of arms features three crowns for the Magi, whose bones are supposedly kept in Cologne's cathedral, the largest in Germany. Below the crowns on their red background are eleven black tears on a white field, which symbolize the martyrdom of the city's patron, Saint Ursula, and 11,000 of her virgin companions, at the hands of Attila the Hun. (Salzburg is in Austria, not Germany).

Answer: Switzerland

Geneva regained its status as a city-canton in 1815 and its coat of arms features the imperial eagle on a yellow field on the right and a golden key of St. Peter on a red field on the left. This coat of arms has been in use since the 15th century. In the 17th and 18th Centuries, Unterwalden's coat of arms displayed a single key on a shield whose top half was red and whose bottom half was white.

The key contrasted the two colors, white on top and red on the bottom. The red-and-white shield originated with the flag of Obwalden, while the key motif came from the double key symbol of Nidwalden. Switzerland is known for its cantons, while the other three nations do not have cantons.