Note 138 — Chapter IX

Gonfaloniere, originally signifying standard-bearer, was the title of supreme command in the papal armies, and is so used throughout these volumes when applied to the dukes of Urbino. In Florence, and other old republics, it meant the chief magistrate for the time, and it is still employed in the same sense throughout many towns, especially in the ecclesiastical states. The gonfalone, or banner of the Church, was and is now white, with the golden cross-keys, surmounted by the umbrella-shaped baldachino, or canopy, usually carried over the Pope in processions. This device was borne on the armorial shields of the Gonfalonieri, impaled between their proper quarterings, as seen on the stamp outside of these volumes. The golden keys surmounted by a triple tiara is another common pontifical device, used in place of a crest.