The Cross of Lorraine
also known as the de Gaulle Cross and Gaullist Cross
An emblem of importance for thousands of years; and no less so today
The Cross of Lorraine
The Cross of Lorraine
The Lorraine Cross differs slightly from the Patriarchal Cross, in that the Lorraine has two horizontal beams of equal length. The upper beam is as close to the top as the lower beam is to the bottom. The Patriarchal Cross is similar to the Latin Cross with a smaller crossbeam above the main one. On this cross, both beams are usually near the top. Occasionally, the shorter crossbeam of the Patriarchal cross is slanted, near the bottom.
The Cross of Lorraine originates from the Patriarchal Cross and confusingly, either name is used for either cross form.
Lorraine
Lorraine. Sounds like it comes from a girls' name? Wrong.
Over a thousand years ago, the French King Lothaire gave his name to a province in the north east of the country. The name 'Lothaire' evolved over the years to 'Lorraine'. The region has shrunk and now borders with Belgium, Luxemburg and Germany.
So that's where 'Lorraine' comes from. For this particular cross design, we must go back much further.
Perhaps this cross was first used in ancient Samaria (now Jordan) as an ideogram for rulership, since it depicted a shepherd's crook. With this ruler/shepherd image in mind, it was adopted for use as a Patriarchal Cross (also known as an Archiepiscopal Cross), which is the heraldic emblem of an archbishop. 'Patriarch' is the title of a bishop who is second to the pope and has the highest rank in the hierarchy of jurisdiction. This particular cross form was the arms of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who granted its use to the Knights Templar.
The Duke of Lorraine, Godefroy de Boullion, used this cross for his standard when he took part in the capture of Jerusalem. The heraldry was then passed on to his successors.
In the 15th century, the Duke of Anjou inherited it after the Battle of Nancy, following the defeat of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.
A Cross of Lorraine
superimposed on the French flag as the banner for the Free French Forces in WWII
The Lorraine region, because of its location, has hosted many wars and battles. Twice it was annexed by Germany and when Hitler took control of the region in the Second World War, General de Gaulle chose the Croix de Lorraine (Cross of Lorraine) as a symbol of resistance against the German advance. There were several French Resistance groups, and de Gaulle's was called the Forces Francaises Libres (Free French Forces). The cross then also became known as the Free French Cross, de Gaulle Cross or the Gaullist Cross.
A Cross of Lorraine on a Free French Forces campaign medal
There was much fighting in the area during WWI. It was here, on 15th September 1918, in a heavily bombed area of Lorraine, that an orphaned five-day old German Shepherd puppy was rescued. The dog later became the famous star of Warner movies and known as the brave 'Rin Tin Tin'. It is said the only life Rin Tin Tin actually saved was that of Warner Bros. which was facing bankruptcy. But there's no doubt the canine film star helped promote the idea that our four-legged friends would risk their lives to save their two-legged masters. For this, he was world famous over several generations. But on the infamous side, Lorraine saw poison gas used extensively in WWI to choke soldiers to death.
Slightly prior to that, in 1902, doctors met in Berlin at the International Tuberculosis Congress and delegates decided that because tuberculosis was so rampant they should declare war on this devastating disease. Someone said that in order to do so effectively, it would be necessary to have a Battle Standard. The representative from Lorraine suggested that they should take as a symbol the doubled-barred Red Cross of Lorraine as many victories for the French in battle fields of old were attributed to carrying this Red Cross into the fight.
At present the International Union Against Tuberculosis (IUATLD) with its headquarters in Paris has branches in over 100 countries - all identified by the Cross of Lorraine. (See for example the Hong Kong Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Diseases Association and the American Lung Association).
Poison gas in WWI killed an estimated 91,198 soldiers1. A dreadful waste of young lives, and yet today, that statistic is dwarfed by the killing and debilitation caused by COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases such as asthma and emphysema). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 75% of deaths from COPD in developed countries are directly related to tobacco. Worldwide, the tobacco epidemic kills over one million people every year2. But even this is dwarfed by deaths caused by tuberculosis3 which kills two million people every year4. And to make matters worse, HIV/AIDS is fueling a dramatic resurgence of TB, particularly in Africa,
It is bizarre that these problems do not hit the headlines as starkly as the more trendy Avian Influenza (bird flu), Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD - one of Britain's infamous exports), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Scientists are trying very hard to eradicate these before the get out of control. But the combined death toll attributed to Bird Flu, CJD and SARS, is in fact relatively small. Around 2,000 deaths in total. Ever.5
The battle to fight TB continues, but currently doctors and pharmaceutical companies are more interested in the government-funded, high profile, trendy SARS, CJD and bird flu problems. The cash-strapped researchers for boring old TB are often pushed to the back of the waiting room. Fighting TB is a double battle - against the disease and against a certain amount of apathy. Let's hope The American Lung Association, the European Respiratory Society, the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, and similar organisations win these battles.
Meanwhile, governments around the world prepare for their own future battles against economic competitors by building new and more effective chemical and biological weapons. Purely for defence, of course. (See Black Death Cross and Crenel Cross.)
Sources
1: Spartacus - http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWgas.htm
2: WHO - http://www.who.int/archives/ntday/ntday96/pk96_3.htm
3: Tuberculosis (TB) - also called 'consumption' or 'wasting disease', because it consumes people and their bodies waste away. Another descriptive name was 'White Plague', due to the pallor of a victim's skin (see also Black Plague Cross)
4: American Lung Association - http://www.lungusa.org/
5: WHO (Bird flu) - http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_03_11/en/,
CJD Surveillance Unit - http://www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/figures.htm, and
WHO (SARS) - http://www.who.int/csr/sars/country/table2004_04_21/en/
