page_title: Papal regalia and insignia
section_title: Regalia
hierarchical_section_title: Papal regalia and insignia / Regalia
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Papst Pius XII., Krönung
context_page_description: Papal regalia and insignia are the official items of attire and decoration proper to the Pope in his capacity as the head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State.
context_section_description: The regalia of the papacy include the triregnum, a headgear with three crowns or levels, also called the triple tiara or triple crown. "Tiara" is the name of the headdress, even in the forms it had before a third crown was added to it. 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. Paul VI used it on 30 June 1963 at his coronation, but abandoned its use later. None of his successors have used it. On his personal coat of arms, Pope Benedict XVI replaced the tiara with a mitre, but the tiara remains on the coat of arms of the Holy See and of Vatican City State.
  The Ring of the Fisherman, another item of papal regalia, is a gold ring decorated with a depiction of St. Peter in a boat casting his net, with the name of the reigning Pope surrounding it. It was first mentioned in 1265 by Pope Clement IV, who wrote in a letter to his nephew that Popes were accustomed to sealing public documents with a leaden "bulla" 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 Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church; on the Pope's death, the Cardinal Chamberlain used to deface and smash the Fisherman's Ring with a hammer as a symbolic representation of the end of the late Pope's authority.
  Modern popes bear the Papal ferula, a staff topped by a crucifix, rather than a crozier, a bent pastoral staff styled after a shepherd's crook. The use of the papal ferula is an ancient custom, established before the thirteenth century, though some popes since that time, notably Pope Leo XIII, have used a crozier-like staff.
  The use of other items of papal regalia has been discontinued, though they have not been abolished. 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 sedia gestatoria was used for the Pope's solemn entrance into a church or hall and for his departure on the occasion of liturgical celebrations such as a papal Mass and for papal audiences. The use of the flabella was discontinued by Pope Paul VI, and that of the sedia gestatoria by Pope John Paul II.
caption: Pope Pius XII in papal regalia including the triregnum, falda and the mantum, while being carried on the sedia gestatoria and flanked by the flabellum
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