Maltese

Cross Maltese

§23. Cross Maltese, or of eight points. A cross of this form is the badge of the knights of Malta, and of some other religious orders. The points are imagined to symbolize the eight beatitudes.

A Maltese cross enamelled white and edged with gold--Badge of the Knights of MALTA.

Argent, a cross Maltese gules--Order of S. STEFANO, Pisa, 1561.

A cross of sixteen points is also found note in some heraldic works, but probably only used in modern French heraldry. The drawing appears as an ordinary cross humetty, with the extremities indented, each having four points.