The Swiss Guard is considered the smallest and oldest existing army in the world, having been formally in place since 1506. Currently, the papal army has 135 soldiers: commissioned officers (lieutenants, captains, majors, chaplain, commander, and vice-commander), non-commissioned officers (corporals and vice-corporals, sergeants and sergeant major), troop (halberdiers). The commander of the Swiss Guard has the rank of colonel, is a so-called “papal householder” and holds the title of nobleman of His Holiness.
Members of the Swiss Guard must be Swiss citizens and must be Catholic. They usually come from the two Swiss Catholic cantons of Lucerne and Valais. At the time of entering service, candidates must be bachelors between the ages of 19 and 30, have an impeccable reputation, and be over 174 centimeters tall. Basic service in the Guard lasts two years, with the possibility of extension. Guardsmen’s uniforms have the colors of the noble Medici family.
Pope John Paul II once called the Vatican the most militarized country in the world, as the number of guardsmen stationed there exceeds 10 percent of the Vatican state’s population.
