GUARDIA PALATINA D'ONORE. — This is one of the corps of the Papal armed forces, an expression of the Roman people’s tribute of fidelity to the Supreme Pontiff. The institution of the G. p. d'o. was established by Pius IX through a dispatch of the Secretary of State, Cardinal Antonelli, dated 14 December 1850, which entered into force on 1 January 1851. By this dispatch the first constitutive regulation of the G. p. d'o. was officially promulgated; it resulted from the merger of the Urban Militia of the Roman People and the Selected Civic Guard, which were suppressed. The G. p. d'o. was reformed by Pius IX himself through another dispatch dated 7 September 1859 and through disciplinary regulations of 28 December 1859, issued by the Secretariat of State. Another dispatch of the Secretariat of State, dated 17 October 1829, entrusted to the commander of the G. p. d'o. the organic reform and modification of the regulations then in force; these, having been approved by Leo XIII, were to enter into force on 1 January 1893. The regulations currently in force, which entered into force on 1 January 1935, were approved by Pius XI on 31 December 1934 and transmitted to the corps by a dispatch of Cardinal Pacelli, Secretary of State.
The G. p. d'o. consists of officers appointed by sovereign authority (one reaches the rank of officer by passing through all the lower ranks), divided into three categories: on active duty, attached (who perform only occasional service assigned by the Command), and retired; there is also the enlisted personnel, which in turn comprises: a non-commissioned adjutant (who serves as standard-bearer), non-commissioned officers (marshals and sergeants), corporals, regular guards (of the company and of the depot), and guard cadets. The G. p. d'o., now divided into two battalions (although the regulations still provide for only one), has a total strength of approximately 500 men,
including the commanding colonel and the officers, among whom are the chaplain, with the rank of major or lieutenant colonel, and the assistant chaplain, with the rank of captain. All members of the corps must have been born in or be resident in Rome. The general staff of the G. p. d'o. forms part of the Papal household (v.).
The appointment of the commander (who may also be chosen from outside the corps) and the promotion of officers are carried out with sovereign approval. The guards are appointed by the Cardinal Secretary of State, after they have taken the prescribed oath.
The G. p. d'o. reports directly to the Cardinal Secretary of State, is assigned to the service of the Supreme Pontiff, and takes its place in the antechamber, after the Noble Guard, with a picket of six guards under the command of a sergeant or corporal. The officer on duty occupies another room instead, together with the officer of the Swiss Guard. The G. p. d'o. performs service at pontifical ceremonies and in the Papal Chapel, with a detachment proportionate to the position it is to occupy. For these services it is at the disposal of the maestro di camera.
During the period of a vacant see it is at the disposal of the Cardinal Camerlengo and the Marshal of the Conclave (art. 2 of the regulations currently in force).
The G. p. d'o. has its own white-and-yellow flag, fringed and ornamented in gold; it is the only surviving regimental flag of those given by Pius IX in 1859 to the Papal army. The coat of arms of the reigning pontiff is placed at its centre. It is the only Papal armed corps to have a musical band.