Papal regalia and insignia

The most famous symbol of the Papacy is almost certainly the triregnum (a crown with three levels), also called the "tiara" or "triple crown"; recent Popes (since Pope John Paul I) have not, however, worn the triregnum. The tiara was not worn during liturgies. Instead the pope wear the episcopal mitre (an erect cloth hat). Modern popes do not bear a crozier (a bent pastoral staff styled after a shepherd's crook), but rather bears a staff topped by an erect crucifix, a custom established before the thirteenth century, through some popes since then, notably Pope Leo XIII, have used a crozier-like staff. A vestment restricted to the pope is the fanon, a double mozzetta, one of silk and gold, the first going under the stole and the second over the chasuble. The fanon was not used by popes John Paul I, John Paul II, or Benedict XVI, but its use has not been officially abolished. The Pope also uses the pallium (a circular band of fabric about two inches wide, worn over the chasuble about the neck, breast and shoulders and having two twelve-inch-long pendants hanging down in front and behind, ornamented with six small, black or red crosses distributed about the breast, back, shoulders, and pendants) at all ecclesiastical functions but not subject to the restrictions imposed upon archbishops upon whom the Pope has conferred the right to use the pallium.

Related Topics:
Papacy - Triregnum - Pope - Mitre - Crozier - Crucifix - Thirteenth century - Pope Leo XIII - Fanon - Mozzetta - John Paul I - John Paul II - Benedict XVI - Pallium - Chasuble - Archbishop

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Equally famous as the triregnum and perhaps more important a symbol of the Papacy is the image of two keys, one gold and one silver, in saltire (i.e., crossed over one another so as to form an X), with a red cord tying them together. This represents the "Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven" (; cf. ) and is in many ways the quintessential symbol of the Papacy as an institution and of its central role within the Catholic Church. Jesus's definition of Petrine authority ("whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven") established two jurisdictions, Heaven and Earth; the silver and gold keys are said to represent these two jurisdictions. The silver key symbolises the power to bind and loose on Earth, and the gold key the power to bind and loose in Heaven.

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Another famous part of the Papal regalia is the Fisherman's Ring, a gold ring decorated with a depiction of St. Peter in a boat casting his net, with the name of the reigning Pope around it. The Fisherman's Ring was first mentioned in a letter of Pope Clement IV to his nephew in 1265 wherein he mentions that Popes were accustomed to sealing public documents with leaden "bulls" attached, and private letters with "the seal of the Fisherman" (by the fifteenth century, the Fisherman's Ring was used to seal Papal briefs). The Fisherman's Ring is placed on the newly-elected Pope's finger by the Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church; on the Pope's death, the Cardinal Chamberlain smashes the Fisherman's Ring with a hammer, symbolising the end of the late Pope's authority.

Related Topics:
Fisherman's Ring - Pope Clement IV - 1265 - Bull - Fifteenth century - Papal brief - Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church

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The umbracullum (better known in the Italian form ombrellino) is a canopy or umbrella (consisting of alternating red and gold stripes) whose original function was quite simply to provide shade. As it was traditionally a royal prerogative to walk beneath a canopy, Pope Alexander VI began using the umbracullum to symbolise the temporal powers of the Papacy; it was formerly carried by a man standing behind the Pope, and features in the heraldic arms of the Cardinal Chamberlain (who governs the Church during a Sede Vacante, a Papal interregnum) and the former arms of the Papal States. The practice of walking with the umbracullum has been discontinued, although it continues to feature in heraldry and remains the insigne of a basilica, usually displayed to the right of the main altar.

Related Topics:
Umbracullum - Pope Alexander VI - Heraldic arms - Basilica

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In heraldry, the Pope's arms are surmounted by the aforementioned two keys in saltire behind the escutcheon (one key silver and one key gold, tied with a red cord), and above them a silver triregnum with three gold crowns and red infulae, or the red strips of fabric hanging from the back over the shoulders when worn ("two keys in saltire or and argent, interlacing in the rings or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned or"). The flag most frequently associated with the Pope is the yellow and white flag of Vatican City, with the arms of the Holy See ("Gules, two keys in saltire or and argent, interlacing in the rings or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned or") on the right hand side in the white half of the flag. This flag was first adopted in 1808, during the reign of Pius VII, whereas the previous flag had been red and gold, the traditional colours of the Pontificate.

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One of the most familiar (and now discontinued) trappings of the Papacy was the sedia gestatoria, a mobile throne or armchair carried by twelve footmen (palafrenieri) in red uniforms. Traditionally, the sedia gestatoria was used in certain solemn occasions of Pontifical ceremony, most especially the procession held shortly after the Pope's election from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's Basilica where the Pope held his coronation ceremony; the Pope was carried in great pomp and circumstance, accompanied by two attendants bearing large (and largely ceremonial) fans made of white ostrich-feathers (flabella). While being carried in the sedia gestatoria the Pope frequently wore a long cloak or mantle (called a cope) which flowed from his shoulders over the sides of the throne. The use of the sedia gestatoria and of the flabella was discontinued by Pope John Paul II, with the former being replaced by the so-called Popemobile.

Related Topics:
Sistine Chapel - St. Peter's Basilica - Cope - Pope John Paul II - Popemobile

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