Papal regalia and insignia

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.

Regalia

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 the coronation that was then part of the Papal Inauguration, but abandoned its use later. None of his successors has 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.