Church of San Niccolò al Carmine

Carmelite Coat of Arms

The Carmelite Order is identified with a Coat of Arms formed by a shield, which generally presents: in the centre, a stylized mountain reaching to the sky: it represents Mount Carmel, the place where the Order originated; above it there are three gold stars, usually with six points: these probably represent the Blessed Virgin Mary and the prophets Elijah and Elisha, or a Carmelite friar on his way to the top of Mount Carmel and two others who have already accomplished their life vocation; a crown topped by twelve stars representing the Virgin Mary: it is an allusion to the Kingdom of Heaven. From the crown emerges the arm of the prophet Elijah: he is the soldier of God who protects true Faith with his flaming sword.
The Carmelite crest appeared for the first time in 1499 on the cover of a book containing the chronicles of the life of Saint Albert.
The colours, black and white or tawny (a type of brown) resemble those of the Carmelite habit. From the seventeenth century the Discalced Carmelites, the reformed branch of the Order, added a cross on top of the mountain.