American Crusader Mini Patch - 1"

This is a 1" x 1" mini PVC patch with velcro backing + a sew on loop patch. Designed for more subtle uses on clothing, hats, or gear, or on our handmade leather DVLP x Carriger Crafted Patch Accessory.

This particular design was put together by our bro @RealJakeP. 

The Maltese Cross is an eight-pointed cross formed by four V-shaped arms meeting at the center. It is the emblem of the Knights Hospitaller, formally the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. Christian tradition holds that the eight points represent the eight Beatitudes from Christ's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3–10). They also came to represent the eight langues, or national divisions, that made up the order.

The order began as a hospital for pilgrims in Jerusalem, run by a brotherhood under Blessed Gerard. After the First Crusade, Pope Paschal II recognized it as a religious order in 1113. The brothers took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and they soon took up arms to defend pilgrims and the Holy Land. They called the sick and poor "our lords," and caring for them remained central to the order's identity alongside its military mission.

After the fall of the Crusader states, the knights moved their headquarters to Rhodes, where they held out against the Ottoman Turks for over two centuries. Suleiman the Magnificent finally drove them out in 1522. In 1530, Emperor Charles V granted them the island of Malta, which gave the cross its lasting name.

In 1565, Suleiman sent a massive Ottoman fleet to take Malta. Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette and a few hundred knights, with several thousand soldiers and Maltese defenders, withstood a siege of nearly four months. The Great Siege of Malta became one of the most celebrated defenses in Christian history, and the new capital built afterward was named Valletta in the Grand Master's honor.

Today the cross is carried by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Order of St John and its St John Ambulance service, and the nation of Malta itself. A version of it also serves as the emblem of many fire departments across the US.