The Papal Swiss Guard (now located in Vatican City) was founded in 1506 and is the only extant Swiss Guard.Currently, the name Swiss Guard generally refers to the Pontifical Swiss Guard of the Holy See stationed at the Vatican in Rome.

The Papal Swiss Guard has a bodyguard-like role.

Recruits to the guards must be Catholic, single males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic training with the Swiss military and can obtain certificates of good conduct.

Recruits must have a professional degree or high school diploma and must be between nineteen and thirty years of age and no shorter than one hundred and seventy-four centimeters centimeters (five feet, eight and a half inches).

The official dress uniform is of blue, red, orange and yellow with a distinctly Renaissance appearance.

After the May13, 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II by gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca, a much stronger emphasis has been placed on the guard's non-ceremonial roles, and has seen enhanced training in unarmed combat and small arms.

The Swiss Guard uses traditional weapons, such as a sword and a halberd, as well as modern weapons such as the SIG P220 and Glock 19 pistols, the Steyr TMP machine pistol and submachine guns like the Heckler & Koch MP5A3.