Tiara
the head covering of the ancient Persians; the crown of the ancient Persian kings. These alone had the privilege of wearing the tiara erect; the nobility and priests wore it depressed, or turned down on the fore side. Its form is described variously by different authors, so that it must have varied at different periods. According to Xenophon it was encompassed with the diadem, at least on ceremonial occasions. Also the triple crown worn by the Pope on certain occasions as a sign of his temporal power, of which it is a badge, as the keys are of his spiritual jurisdiction. Nicholas I. (858-867) is said to have been the first to unite the princely crown with the miter, though the Bollandists think this was done before his time. The common statement that Boniface VIII. (about 1300) added the second is incorrect, for Hefele shows that Innocent III. is represented wearing the second crown, in a painting older than the time of Boniface. Urban V. (1362-1370) is supposed to have added the third crown. In its present form the tiara consists of a high cap of cloth of gold, encircled by three coronets, and surmounted by a mound and cross of gold; on each side is a pendant, embroidered and fringed at the end, and powdered with crosses of gold. The tiara is placed on the Pope's head at his coronation by the second cardinal deacon in the loggia of St. Peter's, with the words: "Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns, and know that thou art father of princes and kings, ruler of the world and vicar of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Also a crown, a diadem.