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When a courageous band of crusaders known as the Knights of St. John, fought the Saracens for possession of the holy land, they encountered a new weapon unknown to European warriors. It was a simple, but a 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 torch 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 firefighter and the first of a long list of courageous firefighters. Their heroic efforts were recognized by fellow crusaders who awarded each here a badge of honor - a cross similar to the one firefighter's wear today. Since the Knights of St. John lived for close to four centuries on a little island in the Mediterranean Sea named Malta, the cross came to be known as the Maltese Cross.
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.

Yea thanks

that was nice alot of people don't know the history of the cross

Also, I'm not a member of this forum, but everyone here should read "Last Man Down" by Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto. I heard the man speak 3 years ago at a public safety day at the mall, and his stories about evacuating the north tower and being basically the last guy out of the mess are INCREDIBLE!! See my review of the book. He starts out by listing the 343 dead FFs by rank and assigned unit. Does anyone still use the "four fives" bell system anymore for a brother lost in the line of duty? FDNY has gone electronic, and "Pitch" bemoans the loss. This guy doesn't pull any punches, either, about departmental underfunding and underequipping. I'm reading it now and digging every page! [Just finished it, and what they went through once they got out, picking their way across acres of treacherous rubble, with their eyes burning from all the toxic dust, is a story unto itself. You gotta read this!

Cool!~~ great to know more facts!!

Gwyd says ...

Sandy, nice bit of history there. Watch for a future thread on Greek Fire at the Hazmat Responders group. Unfortunately, the firefighter's cross is NOT the one of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John (see below) and is NOT the same as the Templar's cross (sorry, clyoung!). The Knights of Malta and the Knights Templar were actually pretty serious rivals! I used to teach at a medical college, and a colleague was a Knight of Malta...the "Hospitaller" part lives on, as it's mostly medicos who belong these days. Here are some Wikipedia thingies on the cross issue: "Other crosses with spreading limbs are often mistakenly called "Maltese", especially the cross pattée. The Nestorian cross also is very similar to both of these. The cross of Saint Florian, used by firefighters, is often confused with the Maltese cross; although it may have eight or more points, it also has large curved arcs between the points." "Saint Florian (Latin: Florianus) (died ca. 304) is a Christian saint, and the patron saint of Poland, Linz, Austria, chimney sweeps and firefighters. His feast day is May 4. St. Florian is also the patron of Upper Austria, jointly with Saint Leopold."The Austrian Floriani Principle is named after a (somewhat cynical) prayer to Saint Florian: "O heiliger St. Florian verschon mein Haus, zünd andre an", translating to "O holy Saint Florian, spare my house, kindle others". A statue of Florian by Josef Josephu was unveiled in Vienna in 1935. It stood at the main firehouse of Vienna, in the city's main square, Am Hof. After the firehouse was bombed in 1945 during the World War II the statue was moved to the Fire History Museum (Wiener Feuerwehrmuseum)." 'Spare my house, kindle others,' eh? Wow. "Somewhat" cynical? Yikes. Anyhoo, hope this clears things up. Always nice to see people interested in history of stuff! Patron of not only FFs but of chimney-sweeps as well, who can be considered fire PREVENTERS. OK, somebody start humming the tune from 'Mary Poppins' and we can all go to bed. Happy Noo Yr!

One other side note one of the steps of Knight Templar is you must also be a Knight of Malta which i also am and wear the cross with honor.