Cross of Lorraine
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The Cross of Lorraine, ‡, is a heraldic cross, the "double cross", consists of a vertical line, crossed by two smaller horizontal bars. The lower bar is as close to the bottom of the vertical as the upper bar is to the top. In the ancient version, both bars were of the same length. In 20th century use it is displayed as "graded", where the lower bar is longer than the upper, thus resembling a patriarchal cross, the crossbars of which, however, are both near the top.
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[edit] Symbol in France
The Cross of Lorraine is part of the heraldic arms of Lorraine in eastern France. It was originally held to be a symbol of Joan of Arc, renowned for her perseverance against foreign invaders of France (in her case, the English). Between 1871 and 1918 (and again between 1940-1944), the northern third of Lorraine was annexed to Germany, along with Alsace. During that period the cross served as a rallying point for French ambitions to recover its lost provinces. This historical significance lent it considerable weight as a symbol of French patriotism.
During World War II, the cross was adopted as the official symbol of the Free French Forces (French: Forces Françaises Libres, or FFL) under Charles de Gaulle.
The capitaine de corvette Thierry d'Argenlieu suggested the adoption of the Cross of Lorraine as symbol of the Free French, both to recall the perseverance of Joan of Arc (whose symbol it had been), and as an answer to the Hakenkreuz.
In his general order number 2 of 3 July 1940, vice-admiral Émile Muselier, then chief of the naval and air forces of the Free French for only two days, created the bow flag displaying the French colours with a red cross of Lorraine, and a cocarde also featuring the cross of Lorraine.
Appropriately, de Gaulle is memorialised by a gigantic 43 meter high Cross of Lorraine at his home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises.
The cross was also carried on the fuselages of aircraft flying on behalf of the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres (FAFL) from 1940 to 1943 to distinguish them from the aircraft of the Vichy French air force, which continued to sport the traditional French air force (Armée de l'Air) roundels, dating from World War I.
The Cross of Lorraine was later adopted by Gaullist movements such as the Rally for the Republic.
[edit] European heraldry
The flag of Slovakia and the Slovak coat of arms both include the cross of Lorraine. In Slovakia, the cross of Lorraine as a symbol of Lorraine is considered to have arisen when the Great Moravian king Svatopluk I "passed" it to Zwentibold of Lorraine, the godchild of Svatopluk and son of the emperor Arnulf of Carinthia.
The Hungarian coat of arms also depicts a double cross, which is often attributed to Byzantine influence on Pannonia and Great Moravia, early precursors to present-day Hungary and Slovakia.
The double cross with equal bars, known as the Cross of Jagiellons, was used by Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Jogaila since his conversion to Christianity in 1386, as a personal insignia and was introduced in the Coat of Arms of Lithuania. Initially, the lower bar of the cross was longer than the upper, since it originates from the Hungarian type of the double cross. It later became the symbol of Jagiellon dynasty and is one of the national symbols of Lithuania, featured in the Order of the Cross of Vytis.
The double cross is one of the national symbols in Belarus. The Belarusian version of the cross symbolises the Cross of Euphrosyne of Polatsk, an important religious artefact. The symbol is supposed to have Byzantine roots and is used by the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church as a symbol uniting Eastern-Byzantine and Western-Latin church traditions. The Belarusian Cross can be found on the traditional coat of arms of Belarus, the Pahonia.
[edit] Other uses
The cross is used as an emblem by the American Lung Association and related organisations through the world, and as such is familiar from their Christmas Seals program. Its use was suggested in 1902 by Paris physician Gilbert Sersiron as a symbol for the "crusade" against tuberculosis. [1] [2]
In the television series, Magnum, P.I., Thomas Magnum and his Vietnam War comrades wear rings with the cross of Lorraine.
In the graphic novels and film adaptation of V for Vendetta, a modified and rotated version of the Cross of Lorraine is used as the symbol of the Norsefire Party, a fascist regime that has taken over England. The symbol is red on a black background.
The cross of Lorraine is also used in the SABRE GDS (global distribution system), a computer program used by travel agents.
Exxon corporate logo uses a modified version of the cross of Lorraine. Michael Tsarion claims Exxon’s use of the cross of Lorraine points to links with the occult [3]
[edit] Miscellaneous
The "Cross of Lorraine" symbol appears in Unicode as U+2628 (☨) or U+2021 (‡) and in HTML as ‡ (‡).
The Cross of Lorraine was noted as a symbol of the Free French in the award-winning film Casablanca. A ring bearing the Cross was worn by Norwegian underground agent Berger and shown to one of the movies heroes — Victor Laszlo — as proof of loyalty.
The electronic music band Psychic TV, more specifically Genesis P-Orridge, produced a "sigil" which is very similar to the "Cross of Lorraine." Psychic TV logo
Controversial noise musician and one-time LaVeyan Satanist Boyd Rice has also adopted the Cross of Lorraine as a symbol, explicitly because of its hermetic associations. [1]
The band Marilyn Manson have adopted a slightly different version of the Lorraine Cross as a logo representing their 2007 album Eat Me, Drink Me, as well as for Marilyn Manson's art movement The Celebritarian Corporation, sometimes referring to the symbol as "The Double Cross". Previous adopted symbols have included the electric shock arrow, the omega, and the astronomical symbol for Mercury.
[edit] See also
- Patriarchal cross
- Coat of Arms of Slovakia (describes the meaning of the cross and how the patriarchal cross probably became the cross of Lorraine)
- Kotwica, the symbol of the Polish Secret State
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Cross of Lorraine – a symbol of the anti-TB “crusade”. TB Alert. Retrieved on November 18, 2006.
- ^ History of the Double-Barred Cross. Alberta Lung Association. Retrieved on November 18, 2006.
- ^ Subversive use of symbolism.
[edit] External links
