The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold Cross", or "cross-and-crosslets") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each quadrant. Heavily popularized in the crusades, it was used as the emblem and coat of arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the 1280s.
There are variants to the design, also known as "Jerusalem cross", with either the four crosslets also in the form of Crosses potent, or conversely with the central cross, also in the form of a plain Greek cross.[1] It is not to be confused with the Lorraine cross, which has also been called the "Jerusalem cross".[2]
- ^ The design with the crosslets as crosses potent is medieval, e.g. found in 13th-century stonework in the Nor Varagavank monastery, Armenia; another example is found in the Norman church at Bozeat, Northamptonshire, England.
- ^ William Woo Seymour, The Cross in Tradition, History and Art, 1898, p. 356.