Maltese Cross / Iron Cross History Discovered

A Brief History

The Maltese, or Iron Cross, is widely popular among bikers and has been so going back a number of decades. The original idea behind the use of it in those circles was to symbolize truth and brotherhood–something found less and less in society as a whole.

Just a small group of often disillusioned fringe elements and drifters believe in that bygone era code. The rest are dead or in jail.

In time the cross unfortunately degenerated into just another “bad” or misunderstood symbol to many, and it sadly lost its original meaning except to those few who knew better. Let’s explore…

The Iron Cross

The Iron Cross was established in various classes of issue in 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars by German emperor Friedrich Wilhelm III as a reward for heroism, bravery, or extraordinary leadership.

The emperor handed out well over five million of these medals to his soldiers. It became one of the world’s most recognized military decorations of recent history.

Germany revived it in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War and again in 1914 for World War I.

Hitler employed the medal in 1939, at which time the swastika was added at the center of the cross (also known as the Knights Cross) and it sadly became one of the main visual items of the Third Reich and Nazism – thus de facto corrupting it into a hate symbol.

A final version was minted in 1957 for issue to veterans of WWII. Since the swastika was banned in Germany after WWII, that last version was de-Natzified (sans swastika) allowing veterans to wear their earned commendation in public.

The Maltese Cross

Coming full circle in our brief history: the eight-pointed cross first became the badge of the Order of the Knights of St. John in the year 1023 when they rebuilt their hospital in Jerusalem with funds donated by the merchants of the Republic of Amalfi.

When the Order of the Monks of St. John was formed during the Crusades (again with the support of the Republic of Amalfi) they also adopted the cross as their badge, and ever since the Order’s occupation of Malta, it has been known as the Maltese Cross.

The eight points of the cross symbolized the eight Obligations and Aspirations of the Knights. They were: Live in Truth; Have Faith; Repent of Sins; Give Proof of Humility; Love Justice; Be Merciful; Be Sincere and Wholehearted and Endure Persecution.

Next time you see an American fire truck, just look at the door and you will see the Maltese Cross incorporated into the local fire department seal.

Also, from a modern perspective, one cannot help but wonder how many bikers – authentic or otherwise – reflect on the eight Obligations and Aspirations as they ride around in their West Coast Choppers T-shirts.

Hopefully, this brief summary helps shed some light upon the origin of the Iron Cross. And although no one has a specific explanation for its popularity among bikers, surfers, punk rockers, goth fans and beatniks etc.

My own un-scientific guess is that it signifies a brotherhood, and maybe more importantly, just looks plain “bad.”

So, even if you can’t afford a custom Harley or a West Coast Chopper, this piece will still keep you on the cool side.

I have shots of the ones I made in both regular size as well as reduced size which I still have plenty of in stock. The reduced ones come in pin as well as pendant and self-stick adhesive format (1.25-inch). Also offer these with a real nice Italian solid sterling silver necklace in 22-inch length.

These range from 15 bucks all the way up to
185 for the silver necklace version.

As you can see, I made some Indian specific frames that are custom. They are super low volume, super high quality, and they ain’t cheap…$385.00 per and up depending on custom medallion application.