OMOPHORION. — A liturgical vestment distinctive of bishops of the Byzantine, Armenian, Syriac, Maronite, and Coptic rites, it is a silk scarf (band, sash) 3 or 4 m. long and 0.25–0.30 m. wide, draped freely over the chest and shoulders so as to let one end hang down in front and the other behind; among the Syriacs and Maronites, however, there is an opening in the middle of the omophorion through which the head is passed, and it is worn like a scapular.
The omophorion corresponds to the Latin pallium, with the following differences: a) whereas the pallium is the distinctive vestment of the pope and archbishops and is granted only rarely to a bishop, the omophorion is today given to all bishops of the rites mentioned above; b) while the pallium can be traced back to the 5th century, the omophorion is attested from the 4th century (cf. Isidore of Pelusium: PG 78, 272) and its earliest representation dates to the 5th century; c) the form of the pallium has changed considerably, but in the Byzantine, Armenian, and Coptic rites the omophorion has retained its ancient shape. According to a new hypothesis, the origin of the omophorion should be sought in the great and small pallium of monks (cf. Council of Gangra, 340–341, canon 12). — See pl. VI.