Military in Vatican City Since the early twentieth century the Guard has returned to its original practice of recruiting only Swiss nationals. As of 2005, the Guard had 134 members. All recruits complete basic military training with the Swiss Army before transferring to the Vatican, and must be at least 174 cm (5 ft 8.5 in) in height. Members are armed with small arms for practical purposes, and for cerimomial functions the ranks carry the traditional Halberd (also called the Swiss voulge), the Corporals and Vice-corporals either Patisans polearms or Flammenschwert two-handed swords, while officers do not carry weapons, but command batons only. Although
Voulge meant for hacking, while that of the glaive was narrow and meant more for cutting. A voulge thus looks something like a squashed bardiche, or just a meat cleaver attached to a long pole. In early designs it consisted solely of a cutting edge, but in time voulges often had a 'pointed-top' blade for stabbing. Hooks were also incorporated onto the back of the blade, in which case they are referred to as "voulge-guisarmes". The voulge was commonly used by the French. The Hundred Years War provided many opportunities to prove its utility. It is commonly believed that this was