page_title: Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City
section_title: Uniforms
hierarchical_section_title: Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City / Uniforms
caption_attribution_description: English: A police officer of Vatican City in Saint Peter's Basilica after a Papal mass.
context_page_description: The Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State is the gendarmerie, or police and security force, of Vatican City and the extraterritorial properties of the Holy See. It was founded in 1816 as Corps of Gendarmes by Pope Pius VII, renamed the Central Security Office in 1970, the Security Corps in 1991, and was restored to its original name in 2002.
  The corps numbered 130 as of 2017. It is led by Inspector General Gianluca Gauzzi Broccoletti, a cybersecurity expert who has served on the Vatican gendarmerie since 1995 and who was made deputy leader in 2018. He was appointed by Pope Francis on 15 October 2019.
context_section_description: Before 1970, the 180 Pontifical Gendarmes wore elaborate ceremonial uniforms of 19th-century origin. These included bearskin headdresses with red plumes, black coatees with white-fringed epaulettes, white doeskin breeches and knee-high riding boots. In service dress bicornes and blue trousers were substituted.
  The present-day Vatican City gendarmes wear dark blue modern police uniforms. There are different orders of dress for different occasions and seasons (as well as weather). However, rank, insignia and decorations do not differ between uniforms.
  Everyday Dress
  Blue kepi (cap) with cap badge
  White shirt
  Black tie
  Blue tunic with four pockets or long black jacket or short black bomber jacket
  Pocket badge
  Blue trousers with black stripe down the side
  Black boots.
  Dress-down Uniform
  (worn when the above is impractical/unsuitable)
  Light blue polo shirt
  Dark blue trousers
  V-neck jumper
  Jacket
  Baseball cap
  Black boots/shoes
  Special/Practical Duties 
  Dark blue shirt-jacket
  Dark blue cargo trousers
  Helmet
  Square baseball cap
  Beret
  Black boots
  Plain clothes
  A dark suit may be worn when gendarmes carry out close protection duties (e.g. assisting the Swiss Guard with protecting the Pope)
  Ceremonial Dress
  Blue kepi (cap) with cap badge
  White shirt
  Black tie
  Blue tunic with four pockets
  Pocket badge
  Blue trousers with a black stripe down the side
  Dark blue cape with clasp (wintertime)
  Black waist belts with belt badge over tunic (with or without closed pistol holster or sword)
  Officers wear gold and yellow shoulder sash
  White gloves
  Medals are worn on the left breast (if any)
  Black boots
caption: Gendarme showing the every day uniform (tunic configuration). Notice the Italian-style pistol holster, worn on the left for cross-draw purposes
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