The Maltese Cross
The badge of a fireman is the Maltese Cross. This Maltese Cross is a symbol of protection and a badge of honor. It's 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 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 Saracens 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 flaming torches into their midst. Hundreds of 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 firemen and the first in 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 firemen wear today. Since the Knights of St. John lived for close to four centuries on a little island in the Mediterranean Sea called Malta, the cross came to be known as the Maltese Cross.
The Maltese Cross is your symbol of protection. It means that the fireman who wears the 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 fireman's badge of honor, signifying that he works in courage...a ladder rung away from death.
