Maltese Cross Fire Meaning
It was adopted by the knights hospitallers of st.
Maltese cross fire meaning. Although chiefly associated with the knights hospitaller order of st. The maltese cross firefighters. The maltese cross is identified as the symbol of the christian warrior. Its story is hundreds of years old.
Each of the 8 has a very distinguished and deep meaning. The maltese cross has 8 points. John of jerusalem knights hospitallers a charitable non military organization that existed during the 11th and 12th centuries that. The maltese cross is a symbol of protection and a badge of honor.
The badge of a fire fighter is the maltese cross. Maltese crosses are usually black and white or red and white. It s even believed the more modern maltese cross is derivative of the older st florian cross. The fire service borrows the emblem of the cross from the knights of st.
The maltese cross is a cross symbol consisting of four v or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles two tips pointing outward symmetrically. If you take a look at almost any fire apparatus today you re likely to see the maltese cross. While the firefighter cross s shape most closely resembles the st florian cross it clearly also looks a lot like the maltese cross. The 1 st point of the cross stands for gallantry.
The insignia of the fire service is the cross pattee nowy otherwise known as the maltese cross. The maltese cross is a symbol that is most commonly associated with the knights of malta also known as the knights hospitallers who ruled the maltese islands between 1530 and 1798. This mean for one to have a gallant appearance an act of marked courtesy spirited and conspicuous. While it s not really there for aesthetic appeal this emblem has a very rich history and it symbolized an elite group of people that have dedicated their lives to serve their everyone in need.
The cross is eight pointed and has the shape of four v shaped arms joined together at their bases so that each arm has. The maltese cross is nowadays widely used and associated with malta as a country used by the national airline air malta as part of its livery and even featuring on the maltese euro coins for example. There were many of. The maltese cross is a badge of honor signifying that he works in courage a ladders rung away from death.
The history of the maltese cross by mica calfee. In fact while the maltese and st florian crosses are different they have a lot of similarities in meaning. This is the story that this symbol of chivalry has to tell and bring to. The story is that these knights had a cross on their tunics and that the saracens used fire as a weapon against them.
The maltese cross has its roots in crusader crosses and was originally the symbol of the republic of amalfi italy in the 11th century. One can easily find a hundred web sites that will tell you that the symbol of the fire service comes from the knights of malta and their battles with ottoman pirates or the saracens. John in 1126 who ruled the maltese islands from 1530 to 1798 and became known as the knights of malta. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed from earlier forms of eight pointed crosses in the 16th century.
All of this is true.