Sunday, June 13, 2010

Cross pattée


A cross pattée (also known as a "cross pattee", "crosse pattée", "cross patty", "cross formée" or "cross formy" or in German "Tatzenkreuz") is a type of cross that has arms which are narrow at the center, and broader at the perimeter. The name comes from the fact that the shape of each arm of the cross was thought to resemble a paw (French patte). Here are several variants of the cross pattée:


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Crusades

This cross is often associated with Crusaders or the Crusades. The heraldic cross pattée was sometimes used by a Crusader order, the Teutonic Knights (though their more usual emblem was a plain straight black cross on white),[citation needed] and later became associated with Prussia and the 1871-1918 German empire. It continued to be used by the German military after 1918. A version of the Iron Cross is used to date by the German army (Bundeswehr) as its symbol and nationality marking and found on vehicles, aircraft and publications.
The cross pattée is also sometimes associated with another Crusader order, the Knights Templar, though as with the Teutonic Knights, it was not used consistently. The Templars did adopt a red cross on their white robes in 1147,[1] but there was no specific style designated, and different Templars used different versions of the cross. The pattée was by no means their official symbol. However, some modern Freemason organizations do use the pattée in an official way, and this use occasionally causes confusion as to which version was used by the medieval order of Knights Templar.
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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_patt%C3%A9e
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