τιάρα

The Greek tiára was borrowed from an Old Persian word — the exact Persian form is debated, but the object was not. Herodotus, writing around 440 BCE, described the tall, upright felt or leather cap worn by Persian royalty. It was stiff, conical, and sometimes adorned. Only the Great King wore it perfectly upright; lesser nobles tilted theirs. The angle of the hat encoded rank.

Rome borrowed the word and the concept. The papal tiara — the triregnum, or triple crown — evolved from a simple tall cap to a three-tiered crown over centuries. Pope Boniface VIII added the second tier around 1301; the third appeared by the 1340s. Each tier was said to represent a different aspect of papal authority: priest, king, and teacher. The last pope to be crowned with the tiara was Paul VI in 1963, who then placed it on the altar of St. Peter's and renounced its use.

The word split in the nineteenth century. Jewelers began calling decorative headbands 'tiaras' — arched bands of gems meant for women's formal wear. This sense has no connection to Persian kingship or papal authority. It came from the general shape: something tall and curved worn on the head. Napoleon commissioned tiaras for Empress Josephine from the jeweler Nitot in 1804. The bridal tiara descends from this Napoleonic fashion.

Today, 'tiara' more commonly means a sparkly headband than a papal crown. The plastic tiaras sold at party stores for children's birthdays are the most frequently manufactured version of an object that once marked the ruler of the Persian Empire. The word traveled from Persepolis to the Vatican to a dollar store.