Significance and origin of the Templar Cross

The Templar Cross is a symbol well known to all history enthusiasts, but also to many esoteric and traditional organisations, including Freemasonry. Is then the Templar Cross a Masonic symbol ? Strictly speaking, no, if we consider Freemasonry in its first three degrees, which are based on the symbolism of the builders. But we do know that part of Freemasonry cultivates the memory of the Templar Order in its higher degrees. The Templar Cross can therefore be seen on the Masonic Regalia of certain degrees. What is the Templar Cross, where does it come from and what does it mean ?

What is the Templar Cross and where does it come from?

The Templar Cross is the cross that the Knights Templar used to wear on their coats, habits and banners. A Templar Cross is most often described as a Cross pattée gules, i.e. a cross with arms that widen to end flat or rounded (pattée) in red colour (gules). In fact, the Knights Templar used different forms of cross throughout their history, particularly on their seals, documents and buildings : Templar crosses can be found in the form of Greek cross, cross flory, cross moline, crosses potent, etc. However, it seems that the Templars only used two kind of crosses on their clothing : the cross pattée mentioned above and the Greek cross, i.e. a simple straight cross with equal arms (like the Swiss flag or the Red Cross flag, for example).

Contrary to popular belief, when Hugues de Payns and his eight companions founded the Order of the Temple in 1118, they were not wearing this cross. They wore only a white cloak, a symbol of purity and light. This distinguished them from the other Crusader knights, all of whom wore a cloth cross sewn onto their clothing, in a different colour depending on their origin. The French wore a red cross, the English a white one, the Flemish and Germans a green (or later a black) one, the Italians a yellow one and the Angevins a light green one.

It was not until 1147, eleven years after the death of Hugues de Payns, that Pope Eugene III granted the Knights Templar the privilege of wearing the Cross of Gules (red) on their clothing, the colour of which recalled the blood they had shed in defence of the Holy Land. The colour red was also a reminder of the Order's French origins, since the red cross was, as we have seen, the mark of the French Crusaders.

The other military orders that came into being during the Crusades or the Spanish Reconquista all adopted a characteristic cross. This is particularly true of the Order of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem (which later became the Order of Malta) and the Order of the Teutonic Knights. The Knights of St John used a white cross, often pattée, which they wore on their black habit or displayed on their banner. It only gradually took on the form of the eight-pointed cross we now call the Maltese Cross, which was laid down in the Order's rule in 1496. As for the Teutonic Knights, they chose the black cross that the German crusaders had adopted. It was usually pattée, but the Grand Master also sometimes wore a cross potent (i.e. with arms ending in a Tau).

The Templar Cross in Freemasonry 

The Templar Cross naturally adorns the Masonic regalia of the explicit Templar degrees, such as the Squire Novice and the Knight Beneficent of the Holy City of the Rectified Scottish Rite. Sometimes it is also found on the craft lodge Worshipful Master’s collar of this Rite. These are always different variants of the cross pattée. The Templar Cross can also be found on Anglo-Saxon Templar side degrees regalia, such as those of the Knight Templars that crown the York Rite. It may be Latin or pattée, and some dignitaries wear the Patriarchal Cross (with two crossbars) and the Grand Master the Papal Cross (with three crossbars).

The Maltese Cross also appears in Freemasonry. First among the Knights of Malta, the degree that precedes that of Knight Templar in the York Rite. But it is also found in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. It is curiously described as a Teutonic Cross in the ancient “Tuileurs" (French name of Masonic Manuals describing the secrets and regalia of each degree), while it is often a Maltese Cross. In the 27th degree (Commander of the Temple), the so-called Teutonic Cross is generally a black cross pattée, or a black cross potent charged with a smaller gold cross, with a shield bearing the Imperial Eagle, which was the cross of the Teutonic Grand Masters. In both cases, for this rank, it is indeed a Teutonic Cross.

But on the sashes and collars of the 30th degree (Chevalier Kadosh), a Templar-inspired degree, it is indeed a red Maltese Cross that is represented, despite the description of the "Tuileurs". In the 31st grade, it is most often a thick-armed Cross pattée, and in the 32nd, we find thick-armed Cross pattée, Maltese Cross or Cross potent. This shows that the authors of the ancient " Tuileurs" were not particularly rigorous when it came to heraldry.

Significance of the Templar Cross 

The Cross is certainly a symbol that far predates Christianity. It is a universal symbol, found in every culture, and its extremely simple design probably makes it one of the fundamental symbols of humanity, along with the centre, the circle and the square. 

The Cross is used to delimit and describe space, both horizontally and vertically. Horizontally, it symbolises the Four Cardinal Points, and relates to our material world, with the Four Elements, the Four Winds... Vertically, it delimits heaven and earth, and its crossbar could symbolise the limit, and possibly death.

At first glance, the Cross is linked to the number 4, which is the number of the created world, but if we consider its centre, it can also represent the number 5, which is the number of Man. Moreover, a standing man spreading his arms is in the shape of a Cross. And this Cross is connected to the Universe. The extremities of the Cross can be understood as receivers, taking in universal forces to lead them to the centre, or on the contrary as transmitters spreading inner strength throughout the world.

The symbol of the Cross is therefore very vast and allows for all kinds of interpretations, and is not unlike the Masonic symbols of the square and the compass, as well as the perpendicular and the level.

But what about the Templar Cross? Does it have any significance of its own ? First of all, we need to place it in its historical context and not forget that it is the emblem of a Catholic religious order. The Templar Cross is therefore first and foremost a Christian cross, like those of all other religious orders. Its colour is symbolic, of course, and evokes the blood that the Knights Templar were prepared to shed to defend Christianity. And, of course, it is a reminder of the fabulous story of the Knights Templar right up to their dramatic end. But to see it as a specific symbol would mean admitting that the Knights Templar cultivated a secret, heterodox doctrine. Despite a great deal of research, there is no historical evidence to support this legend, which was forged to enable Philip the Fair to have the Order condemned, in the hope of getting his hands on its richness.