GONFALONIERE OF THE CHURCH STATO PONTIFICIO OF ROME-RUTHENIA IMPERIAL ROMAN CHURCH The Gonfaloniere of the Church, which means "standard-bearer," is a high office within the Pontifical Walsingham Guard and the Court of the modern Pontifical Imperial Roman-Ruthenian State of the Imperial Roman Church. Today the office serves as the highest ceremonial rank within the Guard next to the Papa-Catholicos and functions as the Archfather's representative within the Guard. The office holds the rank of Lieutenant General or Vice Admiral and is the senior-most member of the General Staff. The office name originates from the use of the pontifical banners during battle, though it is now purely a ceremonial and administrative role. Due to its origin, however, the Gonfaloniere is entitled to maintain and display three flags, the personal standard of the Papa-Catholicos, the flag of the Pontifical Imperial State, and the flag of the Pontifical Walsingham Guard.  Additionally, like other General and Flag Officers, he has a flag of rank, though it is distinct to his office. The Gonfalioniere is also entitled to the use of the crossed key and sword with ombrellino displayed within his coat of arms. This can be during the term of office, for life, or occasionally an hereditary privilege. Flag of rank and office of the Gonfaloniere of the Church List of Gonfalonieri Robert Guiscard, Duke of Sicily Saint Erlembald Stephen the Norman James II, King of Aragon Galeotto I Malatesta Ridolfo II da Varano di Camerino Charles III, King of Naples Carlo I Malatesta Martin, King of Aragon and Sicily Niccolò III d'Este Ladislaus of Naples, King of Sicily Louis II of Naples Gianfrancisco I Gonzaga Niccolò Fortebraccio Giovanni Cardinale Vitelleschi Francesco I Sforza Niccolò Piccinino Louis, Dauphin of France Francesco I Sforza Pedro Luis Borgia, Duke of Spoleto Federico da Montefeltro Giovanni della Rovere Niccolo Orsini Giovanni Borgia, Duke of Gandia Cesare Borgia Guidobaldo da Montefeltro Alfonso I d'Este Francesco Gonzaga Giuliano de'Medici Lorenzo II de'Medici, Duke of Urbino Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma Jacques Annibal de Hohenembs Giacomo Boncompagni Odoardo Farnese Carlo Barberini, Duke of Monterotondo Torquato Conti, Duke of Guadagnolo Taddeo Barberini, Prince of Palestrina Maffeo Barberini, Prince of Palestrina Livio Odescalchi, Duke of Bracciano, Ceri, and Sirmium

The Stato Pontificio Romano constitutes an ecclesiastical sovereignty by right of Rome as heir to the Roman Empire with an independent government in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (as the Anglican Rite Roman Catholic Church). Additionally, the church  is of the Pontifical Orthodox Old Catholic faith and descends from the See of Utrecht, which was granted autonomy in 1145 by Pope Eugene III and confirmed in 1520 by Pope St. Leo X in the Bull Debitum Pastoralis. As the sole successor of Pope St. Leo X and temporal successor of St. Peter the Apostle, the Catholicate and Patriarchate are fully Catholic and holds the same canonical authority as the Roman Communion (Vatican). The Catholicate and Patriarchate are the ecclesiastical successor to temporal Rome, the temporal patrimony of the Roman Empire claimed historically by right of the papacy. The succession passed to the Catholicate after Benedict XVI by right of Rome and Florence, with the Papa-Catholicos of Rome-Ruthenia with papal authority as temporal successor of St. Peter, and the Pope-Bishop of Rome as spiritual successor of St. Peter and de facto sovereign of the Vatican City-State. Although administratively independent, the Apostolic See embraces as brethren other Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican bodies, such as the current Roman Communion (commonly referred to as the Roman Catholic Church), the Anglican Ordinariate, Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the Anglican Communion. The Imperial Roman Church is defined as the Gallo-Russo-Byzantine Catholicate, the Anglican Patriarchate of Rome, and the churches of all Bishops recognised by the Catholicate. The governments of the modern republics of Italy, German, France, Switzerland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and the United States, and of the modern kingdoms of Great Britain and Spain, as well as the European Union and all other civil states, are not affiliated with the Stato Pontificio government in exile.