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50-403: The Merit Cross was awarded as a Gold Merit Cross or Silver Merit Cross, the gold being ranked the higher of the two. For exceptional service each class could be awarded with a crown, meaning that the cross would be surmounted by a crown and the ribbon attached through it. Awards which commemorated a long period of service could be awarded with a circular shield bearing a jubilee number attached at

100-534: A London fare zone marked with a Maltese cross can make one journey from the London Terminal at which they arrived to the zone in question. The "Maltese cross flower" ( Lychnis chalcedonica ) is so named because its petals are similarly shaped, though its points are more rounded into " heart "-like shapes. The flower Tripterocalyx crux-maltae was also named for the Maltese cross. The Geneva drive ,

150-566: A central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed from earlier forms of eight-pointed crosses in the 16th century. Although chiefly associated with the Knights Hospitaller (Order of St. John, now the Sovereign Military Order of Malta ), and by extension with the island of Malta , it has come to be used by a wide array of entities since

200-530: A device that translates a continuous rotation into an intermittent rotary motion, is also sometimes called a "Maltese cross mechanism" after the shape of its main gear. Eight-pointed crosses were adopted for use by the French Order of Saint Lazarus in the mid-16th century. The use of the green eight-pointed cross by the Order was retained right through to the 19th century and after the secular organization of

250-457: A month of fierce fighting, but the Order managed to hold out in Birgu and Senglea until a relief force arrived. Ottoman specialist engineers had originally assessed the fortification of Saint Elmo, from local informants and conducting reconnoitring missions, saying it would fall in three days. Knight Commander Le Sande, who had sailed from Sicily with reinforcements, ordered a general charge from

300-494: A ring suspension attached at the top arm of the cross. When awarded with the Crown or jubilee numbers shield, those were attached at the top arm of the cross and the suspension ring attached to the crown or shield. The cross was worn suspended from a ribbon of blue with yellow stripes. Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol , consisting of four " V " or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at

350-544: A square was inaugurated in Valletta named Pjazza Jean de La Valette which also features a statue of the Grandmaster. The statue is 2.5m high and was cast in bronze by the local sculptor Joseph Chetcuti. In the statue, La Valette is shown in armour and holding Valletta's plan in one hand and a sword in the other. For many years, the widely accepted version of the Grandmaster's surname was de La Valette . However, during

400-504: A voice replied: I am she who has decimated the galleys of the Turk - And all the warriors of Constantinople and Galatia! As a result of the Order's victory La Valette gained much prestige in Europe , but he declined the offer of a cardinal 's hat in order to maintain independence from the papacy. This has been attributed to his sense of modesty and his humility as a warrior monk. After

450-526: A year by Barbary pirates under the command of Turgut Reis but was later freed during an exchange of prisoners. In 1546 La Valette became Governor of Tripoli , where he tried to restore order within the vulnerable city. In 1554 he was elected Captain General of the Order's galleys . This was a great honour to the Langue of Provence , as throughout most of the Order's history, the position of Grand Admiral

500-682: Is displayed as part of the Maltese civil ensign , the Maltese naval jack and presidential standard has a Maltese cross in each corner. The Maltese euro coins of 1- and 2-euro denomination carry the Maltese cross. It is also the trademark of KM Malta Airlines , Malta's national airline. The Maltese cross was depicted on the two- mils coin in of the Maltese lira in 1972, and on the reverse of one- and two- Euro coins introduced in January 2008. In 1967, laboratory tests, and flight tests at Fort Rucker and Fort Wolters , were conducted to determine

550-633: Is often confused with the Maltese cross (for example, the New York City Fire Department so calls it); although it may have eight or more points, it also has large curved arcs between the points. The Philadelphia Fire Department , among others, incorporates the Firefighter's Cross into its insignia, as does the International Association of Fire Fighters . The Maltese cross should not be mistaken for

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600-530: Is the "Cross" of the French Legion of Honour ( Croix de la Légion d'honneur ). A seven-armed variant, known as the "Maltese asterisk", is used as the basis of Britain's Order of St Michael and St George . Other crosses with spreading limbs are often mistakenly called "Maltese", especially the cross pattée . The royal warrant which created the Victoria Cross prescribed a Maltese cross, but

650-520: The Crusades used a plain Latin cross. Occasional use of the modern form straight-edged "eight-pointed cross" by the order begins in the early 16th century. This early form is a cross moline (ancrée) or cross branchée ending in eight points, not yet featuring the sharp vertex of the modern design. The association of the eight-pointed cross with the southern Italy coastal town of Amalfi may go back to

700-530: The Crusades . Jean Parisot's grandfather, Bernard de La Valette, was a Knight and King's Orderly, and his father Guillot was a Chevalier de France . Jean Parisot was a distant cousin (through their mutual ancestor Almaric, Seigneur de Parisot) of Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette , first Duke of Épernon . Although his birth year is usually given as 1494, both chroniclers of the Great Siege of Malta , Francisco Balbi di Correggio and Hipolito Sans, say he

750-547: The George Cross , awarded to Malta by George VI of the United Kingdom in 1942, which is depicted, since 1964, on the national flag of Malta . The Maltese cross is depicted on the civil ensign of Malta, shown above . Jean Parisot de Valette Fra' Jean " Parisot " de ( la ) Valette ( French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ paʁizo d(ə) (la) valɛt] ; c.  4 February 1495 – 21 August 1568)

800-670: The La and sometimes the double l in the Grandmaster's name. It is worth noting that an interesting development had occurred in 1539 when de Vallette was some 45 years old and already in Malta. It was then that Francis I, seeing the wide linguistic disparity in the use of various Romance and Germanic languages in France, enacted the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts which prescribed the use of standard French, mostly as spoken in northern France and in

850-810: The early modern period , notably the Order of Saint Stephen , the city of Amalfi , the Polish Order of the White Eagle (1709), the Prussian order Pour le Mérite (1740), and the Bavarian Military Merit Order (1866). Unicode defines a character named "Maltese cross" in the Dingbats range at code point U+2720 ( ✠ ); however most computer fonts render the code point as a cross pattée . The Knights Hospitaller during

900-515: The 11th century, as the design is allegedly found on coins minted by the Duchy of Amalfi at that time. Eight-pointed crosses appear on coins minted by the Grand Masters of the order, first shown as a bolsini-type cross embroidered on the left arm of the robe of the kneeling Grand Master on the obverse of a coin minted under Foulques de Villaret (r. 1305–1319) In 1489, the statutes of

950-774: The Crypt of the Conventual Church of the Order (now St. John's Co-Cathedral ), situated within the walls of Valletta. The inscription on his tomb, which was composed by his Latin Secretary, Sir Oliver Starkey , the last Knight of the English Langue at the time of the Great Siege, states in Latin: Here lies La Valette. Worthy of eternal honour, He who was once the scourge of Africa and Asia, And

1000-601: The Knights, mindful of the attack that was sure to come, elected La Valette to be Grand Master. In 1560 he formed an alliance with the Habsburg Empire to reconquer Tripoli, but the expedition resulted in a Christian defeat at the Battle of Djerba . Despite this the Order's galleys were able to rescue several other Christian vessels, and later on in his reign, La Valette greatly strengthened the Order's navy. He organised

1050-647: The Magnificent . After the loss of Rhodes, the Order was granted the Maltese Islands and Tripoli by Emperor Charles V . In 1538 he was imprisoned in the Gozo prison for four months after attacking a man. In 1541 La Valette was involved in a naval battle against Abd-ur-Rahman Kust Aly, in which he was wounded and his galley, the San Giovanni , was captured. La Valette was taken as a galley slave for

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1100-404: The Maltese cross symbol to vessels and offshore units for which the hull construction and/or the manufacture of its machinery and components and any associated required testing, as applicable, is carried out under ABS survey. Several orders that are descended from the original Order of St John set up first aid and ambulance services. These also incorporated the Maltese cross into their logos: On

1150-534: The Maltese hills toward the end of the siege. They attacked the Ottoman forces until the Ottoman forces retreated to the sea, and at that point the sea had completely changed colour to red (from the sheer volume of blood lost). It was at that point the Ottoman forces boarded their ships, directed their course back to Constantinople. Whilst shaping course back to Constantinople they momentarily contemplated counterattacking. However, they had lost too many men, supplies, and

1200-492: The National Rail network, tickets marked with a Maltese cross are valid for travel on London Underground , Docklands Light Railway and Thameslink between two London Terminals, allowing passengers to make journeys that cross London. Passengers can break their journey at any intermediate station but cannot then resume their journey by Tube, DLR or Thameslink using their cross-London ticket. Passengers holding tickets to

1250-651: The Order after 1910. It has been the official badge (combined with an ellipsoid in the center) of the Delta Phi fraternity since 1833. A similar cross is also used by the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. A variant of the Maltese cross, with three V-shaped arms instead of four, was used as the funnel symbol of the Hamburg Atlantic Line and their successors German Atlantic Line and Hanseatic Tours in 1958–1973 and 1991–1997. A five-armed variant

1300-446: The Order of Malta wearing the emblem on his robes. The design appears again on coins minted in the late 17th to 18th centuries. It is shown on a copper coin dated 1693, minted under Grand Master Adrien de Wignacourt . From the end of the 17th century, it is also occasionally displayed as alternative heraldic emblem of the order. Its depiction on the facade of San Giovannino dei Cavalieri dates to 1699. The Maltese cross as defined by

1350-504: The best commanders that the Christian forces could bring to the sea, the forces of Islam were able to call on the equally outstanding maritime and leadership skills of admirals such as Barbarossa and Dragut . La Valette was described by Abbe de Branthome as being a "very handsome man, speaking several languages fluently including Italian, Spanish, Greek, Arabic and Turkish." In 1557, upon the death of Grand Master Claude de la Sengle ,

1400-465: The constitution of the Order of St. John remains the symbol of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , of the Order of Saint John and its allied orders , of the Venerable Order of Saint John , and of their various service organisations. Numerous other modern orders of merit have used the eight-pointed cross. The British colony of Queensland , Australia , adopted the Maltese cross as

1450-563: The defence of Malta, fought during the siege, and successfully repulsed the Turks at the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. During the siege the vastly outnumbered Christians held out for over 3 months against an Ottoman force containing no less than 30,000 soldiers, including the Janissaries , as well as the Sultan's fleet of some 193 ships. The battle saw the fall of Fort St. Elmo after about

1500-541: The great siege, he commissioned the construction of the new city of Valletta in 1566, laying the first stone with his own hands. This took place on the slopes of Mount Sciberras , where the flower of the Turkish army had died whilst trying to storm Fort Saint Elmo, which the Turks thought would fall within three or four days, but which, due to the bravery of the defenders, held out for 30 days. The city named after its founder - Humilissima Civitas Vallettae - became known as

1550-470: The greatest sieges of all time. The foundation stone of Valletta was laid by Grandmaster La Valette in 1566. He did not live to see Valletta completed, as he died in 1568 and was succeeded by Grandmaster Pierre de Monte . He was born into the noble La Valette family in Quercy , South-western France, which had been an important family in France for many generations, various members having participated in

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1600-410: The islands with Isabella's wealth and was never heard from again. La Valette is well known for being the Grandmaster who won the Great Siege and founded Valletta. A street in the town of Naxxar as well as the flagship of Virtu Ferries MV  Jean de La Valette are both named after him. La Valette was also featured on Maltese stamps , coins, banknotes and telecards a number of times. In 2012,

1650-625: The knights. Websites operated by both the German Order of Saint John ( Johanniterorden ) and the British Venerable Order of St John associate the eight points with the Eight Beatitudes . An undated leaflet published by The Venerable Order's main service organisation, St John Ambulance , has also applied secular meanings to the points as representing the traits of a good first aider . The Maltese cross

1700-479: The medal has always in fact been a cross pattée. The official symbol of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity is the cross pattée , though the organization's founder thought it was a Maltese cross when the organization was formed in 1865. The Nestorian cross also is very similar to both of these. The Unicode Character “✠” (U+2720) is called a Maltese Cross, but is in fact a cross pattée. The Firefighter's Cross

1750-532: The morale at that point to launch any substantial counterattack. During the first days after the siege a Maltese soldier sitting around a campfire at night began to frame the words of a song which would later become famous in the Mediterranean: Malta of gold, Malta of silver, Malta of precious metal, We shall never take you. No, not even if you were as soft as a gourd, Not even if you were only protected by an onion skin! And from her ramparts

1800-482: The most aristocratic and exclusive fortress in Europe - a city most often referred to as "Superbissima" - the "Most Proud". Valletta remains the Maltese capital to this day. La Valette suffered a stroke while praying in a chapel and died soon after on 21 August 1568, exactly eleven years after he became Grandmaster. La Valette never saw the completed city of Valletta. His tomb (in the form of a sarcophagus) can be found in

1850-501: The most highly visible and effective way to mark a helipad. Twenty-five emblem designs were tested, but the emblem depicting four blurred rotor blades, referred to as the "Maltese cross", was selected as the standard heliport marking pattern by the Army for military heliports, and by the FAA for civil heliports. However, in the late 1970s, the FAA administrator repealed this standard when it

1900-553: The order require all knights of Malta to wear "the white cross with eight points". Emergence of the sharp vertex of the modern "four-arrowhead" design is gradual, and takes place during the 15th to 16th century. The "Rhodian cross" of the early 16th century had almost, but not quite, achieved the "sharp arrowhead appearance". The fully modern design is found on a copper coin dated 1567, minted by Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette (r. 1557–1568). In 1577, Alonso Sanchez Coello painted Archduke Wenceslaus of Austria as Grand Prior of

1950-481: The recipient. The Merit Cross is a 41 mm wide Maltese cross with smooth edges and pebbled texture on the arms. In the center is a circular medallion with the stylized crowned cypher WR for King Wilhelm II . The obverse and reverse designs are identical. The Gold Merit Cross is gilded silver, while the Silver Merit Cross was made of silver or silver-plated bronze. The crosses were hung with

2000-533: The shield of Europe, Whence he expelled the barbarians by his Holy Arms, Is the first to be buried in this beloved city, Whose founder he was. La Valette has been referred to as one who never broke his vows, but it has been claimed that he had a mistress while in Rhodes called Catherine nicknamed Greque (Greek), and that he had an illegitimate son from her who was called Barthélemy de La Valette. Documentary evidence has been found by Bonello that proves Barthélemy

2050-499: The state badge and on the flag in 1876 for reasons unknown, its use continuing through to statehood. The eight points of the eight-pointed cross have been given a number of symbolic interpretations, such as representing the eight Langues of the Knights Hospitaller (Auvergne, Provence, France, Aragon, Castille and Portugal, Italy, Germany, and the British Isles). or alternatively the "eight obligations or aspirations" of

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2100-581: The top of the cross, and holding the suspension ring. The Merit Cross was to be returned to the state upon the award of a higher level decoration. An exception to this was if the Silver Cross of Merit was awarded with crown, it did not have to be returned if the recipient was later awarded the Gold Cross of Merit. All awards of the Merit Cross were to be returned to the state upon the death of

2150-487: The unveiling of the statue at Pjazza Jean de Valette in November 2012, judge and historian Giovanni Bonello stated that the Grandmaster always signed his name as de Valette without the La . A week later, Désireé von la Valette Saint Georges, a descendant of the Grandmaster, stated that the family name was de la Valette not de Valette and since then, a dispute has started as to what his name actually was. Members of

2200-486: The various branches of the Valette family actually used both versions at the time, but the Grandmaster himself never used the La . In fact, all 138 coins and 19 medals minted by the Order during de Valette's reign show the names de Valette , de Valetta or just Valette . Bonello additionally stated that the La possibly originated since the city of Valletta was commonly called La Valletta , so people started including

2250-413: Was 67 at the time, thereby implying that he was born in 1498. In his history of the Order of St. John, the 18th-century historian Abbe Vertot (whose history is largely based on - but often contradicted - the earlier one of Giacomo Bosio ) indicates that La Valette was indeed the same age as both Suleiman I and Kızılahmedli Mustafa Pasha (the commander of the Ottoman land forces), which would mean that he

2300-601: Was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta , from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller , joining the order in the Langue de Provence , he fought with distinction against the Turks at Rhodes . As Grand Master, Valette became the Order's hero and most illustrious leader, commanding the resistance against the Ottomans at the Great Siege of Malta in 1565, sometimes regarded as one of

2350-466: Was actually 70 years old at the time of the siege. La Valette joined the Order when he was 20 years old in around 1514, and he never returned to France or his family estates from that day on. He was present during the Great Siege of Rhodes in 1522, and accompanied Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam , after the Order's expulsion from Rhodes by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Suleiman

2400-558: Was charged that the Maltese cross was antisemitic. In the United States today, some helipads still remain bearing their original Maltese cross emblems. The eight-pointed cross is also used to identify the final approach fix on FAA published approach plates. This is used on both precision and non-precision approaches. The vessel classification society for the United States, the American Bureau of Shipping , will assign

2450-423: Was legitimatized in 1568 by a decree of King Charles IX of France . Claims have also been put forth that La Valette had at least another child, Isabella Guasconi, after a presumed affair with the wife of a Rhodiot nobleman of Florentine descent. Isabella later married a Florentine gentleman Stefano Buonaccorsi, but he murdered her on 31 July 1568, sometime after their marriage. After the murder, Buonaccorsi escaped

2500-545: Was usually held by a Knight Grand Cross of the Italian Langue. In that capacity, he won a name that stood conspicuous in that age of great sea captains, and was held in the same regard as the Chevalier Mathurin Romegas – one of the greatest Christian maritime commanders of the age. In fact both sides had extremely talented sailors. If La Valette, Romegas and Juan de Austria could be considered

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