Flag of Papal Italy by @Thorvald (El Thorvaldo)

I did not technically intend to join Imperium Offtopicum XXII. Attempting to exploit the non-status of single-pixel territories, I initially claimed Vatican City as a one-province minor to 'squat' the thread in a manner similar to my peanut-gallery commentary prior to claiming Estonia in IOT7. Sniiperman, however, failed to recognize the ruse and turned the existing Italian NPC over to me, so I opted to roll with it, integrating Italy proper as a Vatican protectorate.

Traditionally, if anyone does play the Papal States, it's Jehoshua, and he plays it as the sort of ultrareactionary theocracy that would send Nicolás Gómez Dávila rushing to confess carnal thoughts. I, however, veered in the antipolar direction, using the country as a springboard to roleplay as Pope Francis himself: a calm, compassionate, mediative voice who condemned violence and exploitation without hypocritically involving himself in Machiavellian power-plays behind the scene. Indeed, despite the Italian parliament officially subordinating to the Holy See, the only practical change in state administration was the complete abolition of provisional conscription. It was blessed fun, not to mention a novel challenge, and produced some of my favourite RP tracts from any game. Sadly, Sniiperman proved himself very much an untested GM, and the game quietly collapsed over a combination of personal disinterest and managerial criticism.

This was the master file to the in-thread flag, later uploaded to the defunct IOT Wiki in 2018. Combines the flag of Italy with the flag of Vatican City.

UPDATE 29-8-23: Changed interior of the tiara to white in accordance with Article 23 of the Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, 2023.

Download submitted to DeviantArt September 2022; alternative download available via Patreon.