UK Edition
The Swiss Guard, the Pope's private army, unveil new 3D-printed plastic helmets
The Swiss Guard has broken with centuries of tradition by adopting new helmets that are made out of plastic and created by a 3D printer.
The new helmets are lighter to wear and, at £740 each, around half the cost of the old metal ones.
Each PVC helmet is stamped with the coat of arms of Pope Julius II, who founded the private army of mercenary troops in 1506 and was known as “the warrior pope”.
They are also resistant to UV rays – guards spend much of their time standing outside the Vatican, halberds in hand.
The new headgear was presented by Cristoph Graf, the commander of the corps, ahead of an annual swearing-in ceremony on Sunday.
Thirty-two new recruits — all of them single Swiss Catholic men under the age of 30 — will join the force for a minimum two years.
The Swiss Guard is famed as the smallest army in the world.
The tiny force is responsible for the Pope’s safety and the security of the Vatican in general.
They wear distinctive striped blue, red and gold uniforms.
For the most formal ceremonies, they add a large white ruff, plate armour, and an ostrich-plumed helmet.
Although they undertake their ceremonial duties with swords, halberds and pikes, they carry a range of modern firearms, including when deployed in plain clothes as the pope’s close bodyguard.
The Swiss Guard’s most significant military engagement was in 1527 when 190 guards died fighting Holy Roman Empire troops during the Sack of Rome, allowing Clement VII to flee to safety.
The guards have served more than 40 different popes and swear an oath of allegiance that they will protect the Pope's life with theirs, if necessary.
The corps works alongside the city state’s equally small police force, the Vatican Gendarmerie.
The Swiss Guard was hit by scandal in 1988, when its commandant, Alois Estermann, was murdered alongside his wife by a disgruntled guardsman who then committed suicide.
There have been long-standing accusations of an official cover-up by the Vatican, with numerous conspiracy theories put forward for a possible motive for the murders.