Marcia Pontificale

The Vatican City State, as a sovereign body of public law, universally recognized, as well as having its own flag, also has its own official anthem, which since 16 October 1949, by order of Pius XII, is the Pontifical March composed by the famous musician Frenchman and fervent Catholic Charles Gounod (1818-1893), famous for his musical compositions. The Pontifical March was composed by Gounod out of filial devotion to the Pope on the occasion of the anniversary of the coronation of His Holiness Pius IX and was performed for the first time on the afternoon of 11 April 1869, on the occasion of the Pope's priestly jubilee.