Vestment of the Day

ZUCCHETTO (from the Catholic Encyclopedia) - The small, round skullcap of the ecclesiastic. The official name is pileolus; other designations are: berettino, calotte, subbiretumsubmitrale, soli-deo.

Also from the Italian "small gourd," as in zucchini or any member of the Family Cucurbitaceae! Notice how a finely-crafted skull cap hugs the head of a cleric and makes it look like a pumpkin!

The pope wears white, the cardinals wear scarlet (watered-silk), archbishops/bishops-in-ordinary wear purple or amaranth red, apostolic nuncios use the same color as the archbishops except that the material used is watered silk. Priests used to wear black. But I don't think black skull caps are still in use by the clergy.