A gold cross with four small crosses on white: the emblem of the kingdom the Crusaders founded in Jerusalem breaks one of the strictest rules of heraldry.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Historical flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 2:3 ratio, white, with the Cross of Jerusalem in gold in the centre: it is the armorial flag of the kingdom, its coat of arms put onto cloth.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was the state that European Crusaders founded after conquering Jerusalem…
The first certain examples appear on coins of John I of Cyprus, king between 1284 and 1285,…
The kingdom ended in 1291, when Acre, its last great city, fell
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was the state that European Crusaders founded after conquering Jerusalem in 1099, and it lasted until 1291. Its emblem is the Cross of Jerusalem: a large gold cross with four small crosses on white. Today it is one of the most recognisable Christian symbols.
The shape of the cross is older than the kingdom: it arose in Eastern Christianity around the 5th and 6th centuries. Tradition says Godfrey of Bouillon, the leader of the First Crusade, used it, but there is no proof that the kings of Jerusalem of the 12th century carried it. The first certain examples appear on coins of John I of Cyprus, king between 1284 and 1285, shortly before the end of the kingdom.
The kingdom ended in 1291, when Acre, its last great city, fell.
No distinct versions of this armorial flag are known. King John of Brienne used the same colours the other way round, silver on gold.
There are several explanations for the five crosses, and none is official.
The five wounds
the five wounds of Christ on the cross.
Christ and the four Evangelists
the large cross would be Christ, and the small ones Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Christ and the four parts of the world
the Christian message spread in all directions.
In heraldry you do not place metal on metal, and gold and silver are the two metals. The coat of arms of the kings of Jerusalem carries gold on silver, a famous exception to that rule.
Since 2004 the national flag of Georgia carries a large red cross and four small crosses on white, a composition that comes from the Cross of Jerusalem.
The cross is today the emblem of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
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Text based on the article “Jerusalem cross (Wikipedia en inglés)” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
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