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HISTORY OF THE MALTESE CROSS
The badge of a Firefighter is the
Maltese Cross. The Maltese Cross is a symbol of protection,
a badge of honor, and its story is hundreds of years old.
When a courageous
band of crusaders, known as The Knights of St. John, Fought the Saracens
for possession of the Holy Land, they were faced with a new weapon not known to
European fighters.
It was a simple but horrible device of war. The Saracens weapon was FIRE.
As the crusaders
advanced on the wall of the city, there were bombarded with glass bombs
containing
naphtha. When they were saturated with the liquid, the Saracens threw
flaming torches onto the
crusaders. Hundreds of knights were burned alive while others risked their
lives in effort to save
their kinsmen from painful fiery deaths. Thus these men became the first
Firemen, and the first of
a long line of Firefighters. Their heroic efforts were recognized by
fellow crusaders, who awarded
each other with a badge of honor, similar to the cross firefighters wear today.
Since the Knights of
St. John lived for close to four centuries on the island of Malta, (in the
Mediterranean Sea) the cross came to be known as the Maltese Cross. The
Maltese Cross is
your symbol of protection. It means that the Firefighter that wears is
willing to lay down his life
for you, just as the crusaders sacrificed their lives for their fellow man so
many years ago. The
Maltese Cross is a Firefighter's badge of honor, signifying that he works in
courage, a ladder
rung away from death.
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