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THE MALTESE CROSS
Firefighters
are identified by and are very proud of the badge that
identifies them with their company.
The majority of
Firefighter's Badges are in the shape of the Maltese Cross.
Why 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 from Malta, known as the Knights
of St. John fought the Saracens for possession of the Holy
Land, they encouraged a new weapon unknown to European
warriors. It was a simple but horrible device of war; it
wrought excruciating pain and agonizing death upon the brave
fighters for the cross.
The Saracen's
weapon was fire !
As the
Crusaders advanced on the walls of the city they were struck
by glass bombs containing naphtha.
When they became
saturated with the highly flammable liquid, the Saracens
hurled a flaming tree into their midst.
Hundreds of
the Knights were burned alive.
Others risked their lives
to save their brothers in arms from dying painful fiery
deaths.
Thus, these
men became our first firefighters and the first of a long list
of courageous firefighters. Their heroic efforts were
recognized by fellow Crusaders who awarded each hero a badge
of honor; a cross similar to the one firefighters wear today.
The Maltese
Cross is your symbol of protection. It means that the
firefighter who wears this cross 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.
INFORMATION
AS OF 12/1/2008
This E-Mail was sent by the
administrator of
International
Organization
of Fire
Photography
(IOFP)
Thomas Bishop
to the WALCO-ES.org webmaster:
Firefighters Cross (FF Cross) Project
PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO ALL
FIREFIGHTERS
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You can be an important part of
the history of the fire service.
Fire Departments have unknowingly
spread inaccurate information regarding the history of their
prominent emblem, the "Firefighters Cross". The Firefighters
Cross (FF Cross) has inappropriately been associated with
prominent, and unrelated, cross designs such as the "Maltese
Cross", "St. John's Cross" and "St. Florien's Cross". None of
these concepts relate to the current FF Cross in any way. The
false information is so prevalent across the fire service that
it threatens the historic integrity of our profession.
CURRENT
FIREFIGHTER'S CROSS
We are not the first to be mislead
into adopting the wrong symbols for our profession. The
medical profession is associated with the "Caduceus" instead
of the correct symbol, the "Staff of Asclepius" (see Medical
Symbol Information at the bottom of this page).
The medical profession has gotten
so deep in their use of the wrong symbol that they are unable
to pull out of it at this point - Don't let this happen to the
fire service.
Fire Street will be hosting the
Firefighters Cross Project as an effort to get us back on
track. If you have historical reference in the form of
pictures or historical writings, then please submit them for
review. Fire Street will be identifying prominent points to
facilitate the actual history of our current FF Cross Design.
STARTING POINT:
1. Go to Fire Street
(FireStreet.org) and join the "FireFighters Cross Project"
group.
Or just go to
this link:
http://my.fire.st/group/firefighterscrossproject
2. It is important not to
contribute to the confusion at this point. The best way to
stabilize the situation is to use the generic term
"Firefighters Cross" and discontinue use of the term "Maltese
Cross".
3. If you see anything in writing,
then you can direct them to our project location on Fire
Street so that they can contribute to correcting our history.
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MEDICAL SYMBOL INFORMATION
WRONG MEDICAL SYMBOL:
Interestingly, many "medical" organizations are currently
using the wrong symbolism. They have adopted the "Caduceus", a
short rod entwined by two snakes and topped by a pair of
wings.
This is actually the caduceus or magic wand of the
Greek god Hermes (Roman Mercury), messenger of the gods,
inventor of (magical) incantations, conductor of the dead and
protector of merchants and thieves.
Hermes was the god of commerce,
eloquence, invention, travel and theft, and so was a symbol of
heralds and commerce, not medicine. The words caduity &
caducous imply temporality, perishableness and senility, while
the medical profession espouses renewal, vitality and health.
CORRECT MEDICAL SYMBOL: The
appropriate symbolism for medicine relates to Asclepius'
staff.
Asclepius was most probably a
skilled physician who practised in Greece around 1200BC (and
described in Homer's Iliad). Eventually through myth and
legend he came to be worshipped as Asclepius, the (Greek) god
of Healing.
Medical schools developed, which
were usually connected to temples or shrines called Asclepions
(Asclepieia) dedicated to Asclepius.
So, knowing this, you
would be proud of the EMS symbol, the Star of Life, that
appropriately uses the staff of Asclepius.
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For more
information on the medical symbol check out this link:
http://www.drblayney.com/Asclepius.html
IT IS UP TO EVERYONE TO PROTECT ALL
OUR CHILDREN
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