Swiss Guard

Swiss Guard, papal guard of the Vatican in Rome, formed about 1505 by Pope Julius II. It consists of 6 officers and 110 men. Only Swiss can enter the guard, and the privates are not allowed to marry. The men wear colourful uniforms that were supposedly designed by Michelangelo. The institution of the Swiss Guard dates from the time, between the 15th and the 18th centuries, when Swiss mercenaries were a prized fighting force in the armies of Europe. The most famous of these were the Swiss guards in the French army, who defended the Tuileries Palace in Paris against insurgent forces on August 10, 1792, during the French Revolution. About 500 of their number were slain, but their heroism was commemorated in 1821 by a great sculpted lion outside one of the gates of Lucerne, cut out of rock after a model by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.