Papal regalia and insignia
Schools Relations with: Papal regalia and insignia are the official items of attire and decoration proper to the Pope in his capacity as the visible head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State.
For several centuries, popes wore it during processions, as when entering or leaving Saint Peter's Basilica, but during liturgies they used an episcopal mitre instead.
The Sedia gestatoria, a portable throne or armchair carried by twelve footmen (palafrenieri) in red uniforms, was accompanied by two attendants bearing the flabella, large ceremonial fans made of white ostrich-feathers.
The pallium is a circular band of fabric about two inches wide, from which two twelve-inch-long pendants hang down, one in the front and one in back.
It is ornamented with six small, black crosses distributed about the shoulders, breast and back, and is fixed in place by three golden pins, symbolic of the nails with which Christ was crucified.
He used to wear a tufted fascia (white sash-like belt fastened about the waist, the ends of which fall down past the knees and are often embroidered with the Pope's coat of arms), until Paul VI replaced it with a simpler fringed sash.
Over the rochet is worn the red papal mozzetta, a shoulder cape that has a collar and is buttoned all the way down the front.
The papal mozzetta had a small hood on the back, which disappeared after Vatican II but has recently been restored.
He may also choose to wear a red stole with gold embroidery over the mozzetta, even when he is not officiating at a service.
Since the 13th century many papal portraits have shown the pontiff wearing the camauro, a red velvet cap which covers the ears, and is trimmed with ermine.
[7][8] On more formal occasions, the Pope may wear a red cape similar to the ferraiuolo except for its gold decoration.
The insignia of the papacy includes the image of two crossed keys, one gold and one silver, bound with a red cord.
Isaiah 22:22) and is in many ways the quintessential symbol of the papacy as an institution and of its central role within the Catholic Church.
This tradition goes back to the 15th century, and the symbolism of the keys of Peter was first used by Pope Nicholas V (elected 1447).
The yellow and white colours were first adopted in 1808 as the flag of the personal guard of Pius VII, when the other forces of what had been the Papal States were brought under Napoleon's control.
The arms of Vatican City are identical, except that the gold and silver keys are reversed[11] and the cord is red ("gules") and interlaced at the intersection of the two keys, as illustrated in Appendix B of the Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, 7 June 1929.
The practice of walking with the umbraculum has been discontinued, although it continues to feature in ecclesiastical heraldry and remains the insigne of a basilica, usually displayed to the right of the main altar.
