Papal tiara
The papal tiara is a crown that was worn by popes of the Roman Catholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid-20th. It was last used by Pope Paul VI in 1963 and only at the beginning of his reign.
The name "tiara" refers to the entire headgear, no matter how many crowns, circlets or diadems have adorned it through the ages, while the three-tiered form that it took in the 14th century is also called the triregnum,triple tiara, or triple crown.
From 1143 to 1963, the papal tiara was solemnly placed on the pope's head during a papal coronation. The surviving papal tiaras are all in the triple form, the oldest being of 1572, and the others no earlier than 1800.
A representation of the triregnum combined with two crossed keys of Saint Peter continues to be used as a symbol of the papacy and appears on papal documents, buildings and insignia.
History
Origins
The papal tiara originated from a conical Phrygian cap or frigium. Shaped like a candle-extinguisher, the papal tiara and the episcopal mitre were identical in their early forms.
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