IntelliJ commit 50-character line length reminder
For newer IntelliJ versions (at least 2017 and above) read the (self-)answer of @gandreadis.
In older IntelliJ version you can set Right margin for commit messages to 50 characters in Settings/Version Control.
Then the commit message input should look like this:
For anyone still interested in this: I've come across a new setting which does allow what I initially wanted, in a settings group called 'Commit Dialog'.
You can now have it warn you about a long subject line right in the dialog, without needing the visual aid of a delimiter!