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St. Florian's Cross
Tenets of honour, valour and courage, carried forward 1,700 years to today's heros
St. Florian
St. Florian's Cross
St. Florian
(Click photo to enlarge)
It is popularly believed that Florian was a high-ranking Roman army officer in the Celtic kingdom of Noricum (stretching over the area of today's Austria and Slovenia). His martyrdom, in about 303, was during the persecution of Galerius and shows that as early as the third century, Christianity had reached that part of Europe.
There are several versions of the story and most centre on Florian's refusal to renounce his Christianity that resulted in his execution. His job in the army was fighting fires and he is said to have prevented a town from burning by praying and throwing a single bucket of water into the flames. It is ironic that he was killed by being burnt on a stake.
His followers were confident the smoke from his body would raise his soul up to heaven, and to counter this possibility, the executioners tied a stone to Florian's neck and tossed his body into the river Enns1. Since then, several miracles have been witnessed in the vicinity and Florian is recognised as a saint.
Because of his role as a firefighter and his steadfast faith which resulted in his martyrdom, St. Florian has become patron saint of firefighters2.
St. Florian's Cross
Little wonder, then, that the cross associated with St. Florian is used as a badge for firefighters today in many countries, especially the US and Canada3.
St. Florian's Cross
St. John's Cross
Occitan Cross
The St. Florian's Cross is based on the St. John's Cross (also known as the Maltese Cross).
The main difference being the ends of the St. Florian Cross are convex, in contrast the St. John's Cross, where the ends are either flat or concave. (This 'bulging' of the cross ends may have been influenced by the French Occitan Cross.)
The main similarity is that there are eight corner points on both cross styles. For the St. John's Cross, these eight points are often associated with the eight beatitudes4.
For the fire service, the eight points on St. Florian's Cross represent the eight different virtues of Knighthood:
- Tact and discretion
- Loyalty and commitment
- Dexterity and mental adroitness
- Observation, attentiveness and perceptiveness
- Sympathy, compassion and sharing
- Explicitness and thoroughness
- Gallantry, and
- Perseverance
For fire and police badges of Britain, Commonwealth and other countries, see Brunswick Cross
| 1: | Enns, where it flows into the river Danube, near Linz, between Salzburg and Vienna |
| 2: | Other patron saints of firefighters include St. Barbara, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Eustachius and St. John. In addition to being patron saint of firefighters, Florian is also patron saint of barrel-makers, coopers and brewers (he is said to have thrown a beer cask of water to quell the flames of the burning town); also of protector of dangerous occupations of chimney sweeps and soap-boilers. He is a patron saint for harvests and against battle, drowning, fire and flood. For locations, Florian is patron saint of Upper Austria, the town of Linz in Austria, the diocese of Chur in Switzerland, and Poland. |
| 3: | The St. Florian's Cross is conspicuously absent from the badge of firefighters in Austria. |
| 4: | Beatitude: One of the eight sayings at the beginning of Jesus' very first sermon - the Sermon on the Mount. In Latin each saying begins with beatus (blessed) and they are listed in Matthew 5:3-11. |
