Another traditional interpretation was that the three crowns refer to the &quot;Church Militant on earth&quot;, the Church Suffering after death and before heaven, and the Church Triumphant in eternal reward. — Just as the Holy Roman Emperors were crowned three times as king of Germany, king of Italy and Roman emperor, so the popes, to stress the equality of their spiritual authority to the temporal authority of the emperor, chose to be crowned with a tiara bearing three crowns.