PAMPHILI

Another hybrid is found with the Pamphili family stemma. The original stemma was a single dove holding an olive branch in its beak, where both the dove and the olive branch were intended to symbolize the family’s friendliness (‘extend an olive branch’). With the election in 1644 of Pope Innocent X (Giovan Battista Pamphilj 1572–1655) to the papacy, the stemma, and its language changed to incorporate three fleurs-de-lis or lilies with the immediate deciphering being the Kings of France. Yet, my curiosity was thwarted. There is no evidence of a family marriage or a negotiating tool to link themselves with the French Kings. Is it perhaps merely decoration as the lily, as a flower, symbolizes purity? Could it be decoded to mean an emphasis on the family’s effort to come across as friendly, while playing up a subtle, non-existent connection with French royalty? Perhaps, but it seems odd, so I will continue to suggest there is, somewhere in the family history, a French monarch who denotes the divine right to rule.