Papal tiara
The papal tiara is a crown that is worn by popes of the Catholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid–20th century. 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 headpiece, including the various crowns, circlets, and diadems that have adorned it through the ages,[1][2] while the three-tiered form that it took in the 14th century is also called the triregnum[3][4] or the triple crown,[5] and sometimes as the triple tiara.[6][7][8]
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 from 1572. A representation of the triregnum combined with two crossed keys of Saint Peter is used as a symbol of the papacy and appears on papal documents, buildings and insignia, and on the flag of Vatican City. Actual use of the papal tiara has declined since the reign of Pope Paul VI, the last pope to have a coronation ceremony. Starting with Joseph Ratzinger, popes have also stopped incorporating a papal tiara into their Coat of Arms.
Tarot cards[edit]
Medieval tarot cards included a card showing a woman wearing a papal tiara and known as the Popess or Papess or the High Priestess. The meaning and symbolism of the card is uncertain. The crowned woman has variously been identified as Pope Joan (who, according to legend, disguised herself as a man and was elected pope; some cards also show a child, and the Pope Joan legend pictured her as found out when she gave birth during a papal procession), as Mary, Mother of God, or even as Cybele, Isis, or Venus. Cards with a woman wearing a papal tiara, produced during the Protestant Reformation, and apparent images of "Pope Joan" and her child, have been seen as a Protestant attempt to ridicule the office of the papacy and the Roman Catholic faith. However, the papal tiara disappeared from later depictions of the Popess and showed her wearing more standard medieval female headgear.[65]
All tarot cards also contain a representation of the pope, known as "The Hierophant", in some cases crowned with a papal tiara.[66] For instance, the Rider–Waite tarot deck, currently the widest-circulated deck in existence, depicts The Hierophant or pope as wearing a papal tiara and carrying a papal cross.