Jerusalem Cross Mini Patch - 1" (Red)

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.

The Jerusalem Cross, also called the Crusader's Cross, is a large cross potent (a cross whose arms end in crossbars) surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each quadrant. Christian tradition has given the five crosses several meanings. The most common reading is the Five Wounds of Christ. Another sees Christ surrounded by the four Evangelists. A third sees the Gospel going out from Jerusalem to the four corners of the earth.

The cross became the emblem of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, founded after the First Crusade captured the Holy City in 1099. Tradition links it to Godfrey of Bouillon, the Crusade's leader. He refused the title of king and instead called himself Defender of the Holy Sepulchre, saying he would not wear a crown of gold where Christ had worn a crown of thorns.

The kingdom's coat of arms placed gold crosses on a silver field. This broke heraldry's most basic rule, which forbids placing metal on metal. Heralds explained it as a deliberate exception, reserved for the one kingdom that held the place of Christ's death and Resurrection. Long after Jerusalem fell, the arms lived on in the heraldry of European monarchs who claimed the title King of Jerusalem, including the rulers of Cyprus, Naples, and Spain.

The Jerusalem Cross remained the mark of the Holy Land for centuries of pilgrims. The Franciscan friars entrusted with the holy sites adopted it. Today the symbol is carried by the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and appears in red on the flag of the nation of Georgia.