Election  

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The colour of the smoke signals the results to the people assembled in St Peter's Square. Dark smoke signals (fumata nera) indicate that the ballot did not result in an election, while white smoke signals (fumata bianca) announce that a new pope was chosen. Originally, in the event a pope isn't elected, damp straw was added to the fire to create dark smoke; since 1963 coloring chemicals have been added. In the event a new pope is elected, the ballots are burned alone, creating white smoke. Beginning in 2005 bells ring after a successful election to augment the white smoke, and especially if the white smoke is not unambiguously white.<ref>3 - Voting rituals, from the BBC series "Choosing a Pope"</ref> Prior to 1945 (the year Pius XII changed the form of ballot to use anonymous oaths, first carried out in 1958), when the ballots were of the more complex type illustrated above, the sealing wax which was used in those ballots had an effect in making the smoke from burning the ballots either black or white, depending on whether damp straw was added or not. This explains the confusion over the color of the smoke in the conclave of 1978, caused by the lack of sealing wax in the paper ballots burned with or without damp straw (depending on whether an election had taken place or not). During the 2013 conclave the Vatican disclosed the chemicals used to colour the smoke: potassium chlorate, milk sugar and pine rosin for the white smoke, and potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulphur for the black.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>



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