The formulation of a rigid body in relativistic quantum mechanics is studied. Departing from an alternate approach at the relativistic classical level, the corresponding Klein–Gordon and Dirac operators for the rigid body are obtained in covariant form. The resulting wave equations are shown to be consistent, by construction, with earlier definitions of a relativistic rigid body by Aldinger et al (1983 Phys. Rev. D 28 3020). Wavefunctions and spectra for both cases are obtained explicitly, including the Dirac gyroscope with asymmetries.