Current banner of the Pontifical Swiss Guard of Pope Francis under the command of Christoph Graf[1]
Active
1506–1527 1548–1798 1800–1809 1814–present[2]
Country
Vatican City (de facto: 1870–present; de jure: 1929–present)
Papal States (1506–1870)
Allegiance
Pope Francis
Type
Army
Role
Close protection, Honour guard
Size
135 men
Garrison/HQ
Vatican City
Patron
Ignatius of Loyola
Martin of Tours
Saint Sebastian
Nicholas of Flüe
Motto(s)
Acriter et Fideliter "Fiercely and Faithfully"
Colors
Red, yellow & blue
Anniversaries
6 May[2]
Engagements
War of Urbino (1517)
Sack of Rome (1527)
Battle of Lepanto (1571)
Commanders
Commander-in-chief
Pope Francis
Commander
Christoph Graf
Vice commander
Loïc Marc Rossier
Military unit
The Pontifical Swiss Guard (also Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard; Latin: Pontificia Cohors Helvetica;[3] Italian: Guardia Svizzera Pontificia; German: Päpstliche Schweizergarde; French: Garde suisse pontificale; Romansh: Guardia svizra papala) is an armed force and honour guard unit maintained by the Holy See that protects the Pope and the Apostolic Palace within the territory of the Vatican City State. Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, the Pontifical Swiss Guard is among the oldest military units in continuous operation.[4]
The dress uniform is of blue, red, orange and yellow with a distinctly Renaissance appearance. The Swiss Guard are equipped with traditional ceremonial weapons, such as the halberd, as well as with modern firearms. Since the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, a much stronger emphasis has been placed on the Guard's non-ceremonial roles and has seen enhanced training in unarmed combat and small arms.
Recruits to the guards must be unmarried Swiss Catholic males between 18 and 30 years of age who have completed basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces.[5]
The unit's security mission is complemented by the Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City.
^Werner Affentranger, Fahne Gardekommandant Graf (Gardefahne) (Maa 2015).
The banner colonel Graf was completed in April 2015. Its central vignette displays the family coat of arms of Graf of Pfaffnau, "gules a plowshare argent and antlers or".
WH 1/396.1 Familienwappen \ Familie: Graf \ Heimatgemeinden: Altbüron, Dagmersellen, Pfaffnau, Schötz, Triengen (State Archives of Lucerne).
^ abSwiss Guard in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
^"Corpo della Guardia Svizzera Pontificia" [Corps of the Pontifical Swiss Guard]. vatican.va (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2022.
^The Swiss Guard has been disbanded several times, most notably for twenty years during 1527–1548, and briefly in 1564/5, in 1798/9 and during 1809–1814. "Spotlight on the Swiss Guard". news.va. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2015. Extant units of comparable age include the English Yeomen of the Guard, established in 1485, and the 1st King's Immemorial Infantry Regiment of AHQ of the Spanish Army (Regimiento de Infantería "Inmemorial del Rey" no. 1). "Regimiento de Infantería 'Inmemorial del Rey' nº 1" [Infantry Regiment 'Immemorial del Rey' nº 1] (in Spanish). Ejército de Tierra – Ministerio de Defensa – España. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
^"Admission requirements". Official Vatican web page, Roman Curia, Swiss Guards. Retrieved 7 August 2006.
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the ceremonial weapon of the SwissGuard in the Vatican and the Alabarderos (Halberdiers) Company of the Spanish Royal Guard. The halberd was one of the...
programs in Rome. SwissGuards Corsican Guard Noble Guard Papal Zouaves Papal Army Military of Vatican City Pontifical SwissGuard Corps of Gendarmerie...
who work in the state. In the SwissGuard, Swiss German is the language used for giving commands, but the individual guards take their oath of loyalty in...
Anrig. Graf was born in Pfaffnau, in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. He joined the SwissGuard in 1987.[citation needed] In August 1999 he was promoted...
the Swiss Henry Dunant. The modern banner of the Pontifical SwissGuard was designed in 1912–14 by commander Jules Repond. The design has a Swiss cross...
The SwissGuard Band (Latin: Pontificia Cohors Helvetica; Italian: Banda della Guardia Svizzera; German: Musik der Schweizergarde; French: Musique de...
captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While Haupt in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and...
Currently, it is illegal for Swiss citizens to join another country's armed forces except as members of the SwissGuard protecting the Vatican. Military...
in the Swiss army. On May 4, 1998, the SwissGuard experienced one of its greatest scandals for over 100 years when the commander of the Guard, Alois...
Cohors Helvetica ("Papal Swiss Cohort"). Popularly known as the SwissGuard, this 135 strong unit is formed by unmarried Swiss Catholic former servicemen...
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France...
various European powers, earlier popes recruited Swiss mercenaries as part of an army, the Pontifical SwissGuard was founded by Pope Julius II on 22 January...
October 1954 – 4 May 1998) was the 31st Commander of the Pontifical SwissGuard. Estermann and his wife were murdered in his apartment in Vatican City...
in the Tuileries Palace in Paris, which was defended by the SwissGuards. Hundreds of Swiss guardsmen and 400 revolutionaries were killed in the battle...
relief in Lucerne, Switzerland, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates the SwissGuards who were massacred...
papal throne. During the Second World War, the Noble Guard shared responsibility with the SwissGuard for the personal security of Pope Pius XII. For the...
also provided by the Pontifical SwissGuard, a military unit of the Holy See, not Vatican City State. The SwissGuard are responsible for the security...
Noble Guard further to nobles from all Catholic countries. In World War II, the Papal Noble Guard protected the Pope alongside the SwissGuard. Pope Paul...
Military history of Switzerland Battles of the Old Swiss Confederacy Swiss mercenaries Almain rivet Schützenfest Notes What does the SwissGuard actually do?...
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