Coat of arms of Pope Francis  On 18 March 2013, Pope Francis adopted in his papal coat of arms the coat of arms and the motto that he used since his episcopal consecration in 1991, differenced following his election as Supreme Pontiff. His coat of arms displays three charges on a blue field. In reference to Francis being a Jesuit, the uppermost charge is the emblem of the Society of Jesus. The emblem is composed of a Sun radiant, within which is the IHS christogram (a monogram of the Holy Name of Jesus) in red, with a red cross surmounting the H and three black nails below the H.   Below the Jesuit emblem is an eight-pointed star, the star being a long-standing symbol of the Virgin Mary, and a spikenard representing Saint Joseph. In Hispanic iconographic tradition Saint Joseph is often depicted with a branch of spikenard in his hand. These charges appeared on Bergoglio's previous coat of arms displayed when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, but as Pope the tincture of the star and the spikenard were elevated from "Argent" (silver) to "Or" (gold). The first version of the papal coat of arms published by the Vatican showed a five-pointed star from Bergoglio's previous one, but this was later amended to eight points; the representation of the spikenard was also slightly altered so it would resemble leaves rather than what appears to look like grapes. The Vatican has not yet published the official blazon of the arms, but an approximation has been made by John Hamilton Gaylor, as follows:  Traditionally, a Pope's coat of arms was externally adorned only by the three-tiered papal tiara with lappets and the crossed keys of Saint Peter with a cord. The tiara represented the roles of authority of the Pope, while the keys represent the power to loose and bind in Heaven as on earth. Pope Francis' arms maintain the keys, but replaced the tiara (as did his predecessor) with a triband mitre. The tiara and keys remain the symbol of the papacy and appear on the coat of arms of the Holy See and (reversed) on the flag of Vatican City. As with his predecessor's personal arms, Francis replaced the traditional papal triregnum by adopting a silver mitre with three gold bands. These bands allude to the papal tiara's three crowns, which came to represent the three powers of Orders, Jurisdiction, and Magisterium, all joining at the centre depicting unity in the same person.