A red field with the white
Latin cross extending to the edges of the flag
Flag of the Order's Works
Design
A red field with a white
Maltese cross in the center
Grand Master's flag
Design
Red with a white
Maltese cross surrounded by the
collar of the order and surmounted by a crown
The flag and coat of arms of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, or the Jerusalem flag,[2] display a white
cross on a red
field (
blazongules a cross argent), ultimately derived from the design worn by the
Knights Hospitaller during the
Crusades.
The
flag represents the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta as a sovereign institution. The state flag bears a
Latin cross that extends to the edges of the flag. The flag of the Order's works represents its humanitarian and medical activities, and bears a white
Maltese cross on a red field.
Both flags together represent the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Its constitution states: "The flag of the Order bears either the white Latin cross on a red field or the white eight-pointed cross (cross of Malta) on a red field."[3]
The
arms of the
Knights Hospitaller were
granted in 1130 by
Pope Innocent II, for differentiation from the
Templars who displayed the reversed colours. The "eight-pointed cross" is also said to originate in the 12th century, under
Raymond du Puy (this was at first a cross fourchée or cross ancrée, and developed into the fully articulated
Maltese cross only around or after 1500).[4]
A
papal bull of
Alexander IV in 1259 decreed the white cross design to be displayed on the
mantling of the Knights of Malta. After that, the emblem was adopted as a general symbol for the Order.
In the time after the Hospitallers moved to
Cyprus in 1291, the banner of a white cross in a red field was flown by naval ships under the command of Knights of St John.
Banner of the Hospitallers (vexillum hospitalorum) as depicted in the Chronica Maiora by
Matthew Paris,
c. 1250.
Coat of arms of the Knights Hospitaller (circa 1259).
Coat of arms of
Philibert de Naillac as Grand Master (r. 1396–1421), from his tower in the harbour of Rhodes (early 15th century).
Johann Loesel, grand prior of the
langue of Germany, displaying a flag with an eight-pointed cross on a black field in his role as mediator in the
Old Zürich War in February 1446 (illustration of
Gerold Edlibach's chronicle, c. 1500)
The eight-pointed cross (cross fourchée) on the seal of the provost of St John's church, Stockholm, dated 1526.
Coat of arms of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes, gules a cross argent shown
quartered (1,4) for the Grand Master, and
in chief for commanders and ordinary members (1695).
Today the flag flies from the SMOM's headquarters at
Palazzo Malta in Rome and from other official residences and embassies. Together with the
flag of Malta, it is also flown from
Fort St Angelo in
Birgu,
Malta.[5] It goes with the
Grand Master and members of the Sovereign Council when they make official visits.
The Flag of the Order's Works, featuring a Maltese cross, is flown by the SMOM's Grand Priories, Subpriories, and National Associations.
As a symbol of its humanitarian works, the Order flies it at its hospitals and medical facilities. It is sometimes described as the "Grand Master's flag," but it is not used as a
personal standard.
The Grand Master's personal flag is red with a white Maltese cross surrounded by the
collar of the order and surmounted by a
crown. It flies over the SMOM's magistral seats when the Grand Master is in residence.
Embassy of the SMOM in
Prague flying both the State Flag and the Flag of the Order's Works
As of 1998, "The armorial bearings of the Order display a white latin cross on a red oval field, surrounded by a
rosary, all superimposed on a white eight-pointed cross and displayed under a princely
mantle surmounted by a
crown" as defined in article 6 of the Constitutional Charter.[6]
^"Flags & Emblems". Sovereign Order of Malta. January 13, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
^Harlaftis, Gelina; Laiou, Sophia (2008). "Ottoman State Policy In Mediterranean Trade and Shipping, C. 1780-C. 1820: The Rise of the Greek-Owned Ottoman Merchant Fleet". In
Mazower, Mark (ed.).
Networks of Power in Modern Greece. pp. 1–44.
"Flags". Order of Malta. Sovereign Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. Archived from
the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2014.