Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 4, 2005



The Papal Tiara is the three-tiered jeweled papal crown of Byzantine and Persian origin that is the symbol of the papacy. Papal Tiaras were worn by all popes from Pope Clement V up to Pope Paul VI, who was the last to be crowned with the tiara, in 1963. Though Pope Paul VI abandoned the use of his own tiara during the Second Vatican Council, symbolically laying it on the altar of St. Peter's Basilica, he did not abolish the tiara's use, explicitly requiring in his 1975 Apostolic Constitution Romano Pontifici Eligendo that his successor be crowned. Though not currently used as part of papal regalia, the papal tiara's continuing symbolism is reflected in its use on the flag and coats of arms of the Holy See and the Vatican City. In a controversial break with tradition, current pope Benedict XVI's personal coat of arms does not show a tiara in the ornaments; it was replaced by the papal mitre, though the mitre does contain three levels reminiscent of the three tiers on the papal tiara.

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