Jerusalem Cross
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold cross", or "cross-and-crosslets" and the "Crusader's cross") is a
heraldic cross A number of cross symbols were developed for the purpose of the emerging system of heraldry, which appeared in Western Europe in about 1200. This tradition is partly in the use of the Christian cross an emblem from the 11th century, and increasin ...
and Christian cross variant consisting of a large
cross potent A cross potent (plural: crosses potent), also known as a crutch cross, is a form of heraldic cross with crossbars at the four ends. In French, it is known as '' croix potencée'', in German as a ''Krückenkreuz'', all translating to "crutch cros ...
surrounded by four smaller
Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...
es, one in each quadrant, representing the
Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...
and the spread of the
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
to the four corners of the Earth (metaphor for the whole Earth). It was used as the
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...
after 1099. Use of the Jerusalem Cross by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and affiliated organizations in Jerusalem continue to the present. Other modern usages include on the national flag of Georgia, the Episcopal Church Service Cross, and as a symbol used by some
white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...
groups.


Origins

According to Father David Grenier, a Catholic priest and member of the religious order the Holy Land Franciscan Friars, which uses the Jerusalem Cross as its symbol, the cross originated in Eastern Christianity sometime in the fifth and sixth centuries and was later adopted by crusaders and the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1291.William Wood Seymour, ''The Cross in Tradition, History and Art'', 1898
p. 355
/ref> The symbolism of the five-fold cross is variously given as the Five Wounds of Christ, Christ and the
four evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...
, or Christ and the four quarters of the world. The symbolism of five crosses representing the Five Wounds is first recorded in the context of the consecration of the St Brelade's Church under the patronage of Robert of Normandy (before 1035); the crosses are incised in the church's altar stone. The "cross-and-crosslets" or Tealby pennies minted under
Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...
during 1158–1180 have the "Jerusalem cross" on the obverse, with the four crosslets depicted as decussate (diagonal). Similar cross designs on the obverse of coins go back to at least the Anglo-Saxon period. As the coat of arms of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...
, the design is traditionally attributed to
Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (; ; ; ; 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100. Although initially reluctant to take the title of king, he agreed to rule as pri ...
himself. It was not used, however, by the Christian rulers of Jerusalem during the 12th century. A simple blazon of ''or, a cross argent'' is documented by
Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris (;  1200 – 1259), was an English people, English Benedictine monk, English historians in the Middle Ages, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts, and cartographer who was based at St A ...
as the coat of arms of
John of Brienne John of Brienne ( 1170 – 19–23 March 1237), also known as John I, was the king of Jerusalem from 1210 to 1225 and Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1229 to 1237. He was the youngest son of Erard II of Brienne, a wealthy nobleman in Cham ...
, who had been king of Jerusalem during 1210–1212, upon John's death in 1237. The emblem used on the seals of the rulers of Jerusalem during the 12th century was a simplified depiction of the city itself, showing the
tower of David The Tower of David (), also known as the Citadel (), is an ancient citadel and contemporary museum, located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The citadel that stands today dates to the Mamluk Sult ...
between the
Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock () is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the List_of_the_ol ...
and the
Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Some ...
, surrounded by the
city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...
. Coins minted under Henry I (r. 1192–1197) show a cross with four dots in the four quarters, but the Jerusalem cross proper appears only on a coin minted under John II (r. 1284–1285). At about the same time, the cross of Jerusalem in gold on a silver field appears as the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in early
armorial A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coat of arms, coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the m ...
s such as the ''
Camden Roll The Camden Roll is a 13th-century English roll of arms believed to have been created , containing 270 painted coats of arms with 185 French blazons for various English and European monarchs, lords and knights. The original roll is now held at the ...
''. The coat of arms of the King of Jerusalem featured gold on silver (in the case of John de Brienne, silver on gold), a metal on a metal, and thus broke the heraldic
Rule of Tincture The rule of tincture is a design philosophy found in some heraldry, heraldic traditions that states "metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour". Heraldic furs, such as Ermine (heraldry), ermine and vair, and Charge (heraldry), charg ...
; this was justified by the fact that Jerusalem was so holy, it was above ordinary rules. The gold and silver were also connected to Psalms 68:13, which mentions a "dove covered in silver, and her feathers with yellow gold". The Gelre Armorial (14th century) attributes to the "emperors of Constantinople" (the
Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...
) a variant of the Jerusalem cross with the four crosslets inscribed in circles. Philip of Courtenay, who held the title of
Latin Emperor of Constantinople The Latin Emperor was the ruler of the Latin Empire, the historiographical convention for the Crusader realm, established in Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade (1204) and lasting until the city was reconquered by the Byzantine Greeks in 1 ...
from 1273–1283 (even though Constantinople had been reconquered by the Byzantine Empire in 1261) used an extended form of the Jerusalem cross, where each of the four crosslets was itself surrounded by four smaller crosslets (a "Jerusalem cross of Jerusalem crosses").


Classical heraldry

In late medieval heraldry, the Jerusalem cross or Crusader's cross was used for various Crusader states. The 14th-century '' Book of All Kingdoms'' uses it as the flag of Sebasteia. The Pizzigano chart, dating from about the same time, uses it as the flag of
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
. Carlo Maggi, a Venetian nobleman who visited Jerusalem and was made a knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in the early 1570s, included the Jerusalem cross in his coat of arms. There is a historiographical tradition that
Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
flew a flag with a variant of the Jerusalem cross in his campaign in the White Sea in 1693.
Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ;  – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
reportedly told the
Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...
that the location of a sword with five crosses had been revealed to her, and that the Priests of Fierbois had found the sword in the location she described and sent it to her. Following a local tradition that the sword was a relic of
Charles Martel Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...
, some have speculated the five crosses on the blade may have been the Jerusalem Cross.


Modern use

Many Christians, especially those with a particular connection to Jerusalem or who have made a pilgrimage to the city, choose to wear the Jerusalem Cross or have it tattooed on their bodies as a way to express their faith, commemorate their visit, or display their affiliation with the Christian tradition. Author Jennifer Greenberg adds, "the cross continues to be worn by pastors and to adorn Bibles and Christian books." "The cross has been ubiquitous in Christian imagery ever since. It appears in the artistic and architectural ornamentation of churches and Christian buildings, as a design on Bible covers and very often as a beautiful piece of jewelry worn to declare one's Christian faith" according to Matthew Bunson, senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He adds "Today, the Jerusalem Cross is still the main insignia of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem — the Latin Catholic diocese for the Holy Land — the Custody of the Holy Land run by the Franciscan Order, and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem." Today, it appears in various contexts, from religious symbols to artistic representations, many individuals and communities embrace this emblem as a part of their spiritual identity. In the Christian community, the cross serves as a potent symbol of faith and connection to heritage. Churches across the world display it prominently within their sanctuaries. Such visibility reinforces the significance of pilgrimage and spirituality tied to Jerusalem itself. The Jerusalem Cross isn't a common Christian symbol. When Albert, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), visited Jerusalem in 1862, he had a Jerusalem cross tattooed on his arm. Twenty years later, his son
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...
would make a similar journey and also get a tattoo of the
Jerusalem Cross The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold cross", or "cross-and-crosslets" and the "Crusader's cross") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each ...
to commemorate his experience. George wrote of the experience "I was tattooed by the same man who tattooed Papa." German Emperor
Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...
visited Jerusalem in 1898 and awarded the '' Jerusalem-Erinnerungskreuz'' (Jerusalem Memorial Cross) order in the shape of a Jerusalem cross to those who accompanied him at the inauguration of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem. In the early 20th century, the Jerusalem cross also came to be used as a symbol of world evangelization in Protestantism. A derived design known as the " Episcopal Church Service Cross" was first used during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
by the Anglican Episcopal Church in the United States. The Jerusalem cross was chosen as the emblem of the Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (German Protestant Church Assembly) in the 1950s, since the 1960s shown in a simplified form where the central Cross potent is replaced by a simple Greek cross. The modern national flag of Georgia was introduced in 2004, with a design based on the 15th century Pizzigano chart's use of the cross as the flag of
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
. The Jerusalem cross is also the symbol of Kairos, a four-day Jesuit retreat that is held for youth in high schools and parishes around the world. The four crosses are used to symbolize the motto of the retreat, "Live the fourth". The
Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...
character set has a character ☩, U+2629 CROSS OF JERUSALEM in the
Miscellaneous Symbols Miscellaneous Symbols is a Unicode block (U+2600–U+26FF) containing glyphs representing concepts from a variety of categories: astrological, astronomical, chess, dice, musical notation, political symbols, recycling, religious symbols, trig ...
table. However, the glyph associated with that character according to the official Unicode character sheet is shown as a simple
cross potent A cross potent (plural: crosses potent), also known as a crutch cross, is a form of heraldic cross with crossbars at the four ends. In French, it is known as '' croix potencée'', in German as a ''Krückenkreuz'', all translating to "crutch cros ...
, and not a Jerusalem cross. The Jerusalem cross is often used in frequency selective surface applications. The Jerusalem cross is an attractive choice for the periodic element because such a choice makes the frequency selective surface less sensitive to angle of incidence. In recent years, images and terms associated with the Crusades in the Middle East have been appropriated by white supremacists, including the Jerusalem Cross. Matthew Taylor, senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, said that the Jerusalem cross "doesn't always necessarily connote an endorsement of the Crusades" but far-right and neo-Nazi groups use the symbol. While the Cross itself has been popular with right-wing extremist groups, it has also often been used in association with the term Deus Vult. Flags or banners bearing the Crusader cross and "Deus Vult" were flown during the 2017 "white supremacist”
Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a White supremacy#United States, white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, whi ...
. The president and executive director of the Center for Peace Diplomacy said the cross used in combination with "Deus Vult" are "an invocation of the claim that crusader violence and its atrocities (including the massacre of civilians) was legitimate". Podcaster Brad Onishi stated the Jerusalem cross and the Deus Vult are "symbols that are used by white Christian nationalists. Those who have adopted these Crusader images really see themselves as at war with those trying to take down American Christianity and Western civilization at large." In 2020, Democrat
Tom Steyer Thomas Fahr Steyer (; born June 27, 1957) is an American climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, political candidate and liberal activist. Steyer is the founder and former co-senior-managing-partner ...
made news when he showed up with the hand-drawn symbol on his hand during Democratic debates in 2020. He explained that he drew the cross on his hand for years as a reminder to stay honest. In 2024,
Pete Hegseth Peter Brian Hegseth (born June 6, 1980) is an American author, former television presenter, and former Army National Guard officer who has served as the 29th United States secretary of defense since 2025. Hegseth studied politics at Princeton ...
said concerns over his Jerusalem cross tattoo caused the
District of Columbia National Guard The District of Columbia National Guard is the branch of the United States National Guard, National Guard of the United States based in the District of Columbia. It comprises both the District of Columbia Army National Guard, D.C. Army National ...
to pull him from a mission to guard the inauguration of President Joe Biden and helped spur him to retire from the military. According to fact-checker
Snopes ''Snopes'' (), formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source ...
: At least three of Hegseth's Christian-based tattoos do use symbols that are currently associated with — but do not necessarily indicate adherence to — Christian nationalist views. The Jerusalem Cross has not been listed as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League.


See also

* Jerusalem cube


References


Works cited

* *


External links


Jerusalem Civil Ensign
{{Christian crosses 11th-century introductions Christian crosses Crosses in heraldry Kingdom of Jerusalem