Battlefield Cross
also called the Soldier's Cross
Sadly, not an uncommon sight. The cross in the battlefield symbolises a fallen soldier. And although the cross is a Christian symbol, the modern Battlefield Cross symbol originates from an old Pagan custom.
Battlefield Cross
Battlefield Cross
Crosses associated with men-at-arms are found on various banners or medals, often in the form of the Maltese Cross or Military Cross. This page, however, looks at a particularly unusual and infamous symbol known variously as the Battlefield Cross, Battle Cross, Soldier's Cross or Fallen Soldier's Cross.
A rifle pointing downwards into the ground is a memorial of a soldier killed in action. Often the rifle is capped by a helmet, dog tags and at the bottom, a pair of boots to represent the final march of the last battle - items the soldier has no further need for.
Sometimes the rifle pierces the ground with a fixed bayonet, defiantly symbolising that the soldier went down fighting. The rifle may be stabbed into a grave-like mound of earth or mounted, as with our illustration, on sandbags giving an image more like Christ's cross on Calvary. This reminds us that the soldier, willingly or unwillingly, sacrificed his life for his country. (Jesus, on the other hand, willingly sacrificed his life for the whole of mankind.)
St. George kills the dragon
Thrusting a weapon into the ground is not a new idea - warriors have been doing that for thousands of years to symbolise the fight is over. (See also crusader's sword)
The final killing of the dragon by St. George is depicted with the spear pointing down into the dying beast. The battle is won, the fight is over. The Battlefield Cross as a grave marker says the soldier's battle is over, as are his fighting days.
Of course, spears and rifles are weapons, not crosses. The so-called Battlefield Cross is not a cross and not even used to mark an actual grave - it would be foolish to leave a weapon unattended. The inverted rifle is a simple memorial in honour of the soldier's ultimate sacrifice. Its makeshift appearance says there is not enough time in battle to prepare a nicely polished marble tombstone or Cenotaph.
The inverted rifle contrasts with a upward pointing weapon (see the Spear and Cross) in its ready-for-action mode. (Weapons carried by police and security forces may point downwards; a less aggressive and provocative position.)
Burying corpses with their weapons goes back thousands of years. Hunters would be buried with their spears enabling them, according to their pagan religion, to look after themselves in their next life. After the collapse of Roman rule in Western Europe around A.D. 400, pagan tribes buried their men with swords, knives and spears. (These men were not necessarily soldiers - more likely it was their higher social status that empowered them to bare arms.)
Strange that this pagan practice is copied in some form by soldiers of a Christian culture, where the belief holds that weapons are not needed in the afterlife - ineffective against the horror of Hell and totally obsolete in the glory of Heaven. (See also pagan symbols copied into Christianity.)
"Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o'er,
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Dream of battled fields no more.
Days of danger, nights of waking."
(from 'The Lady of the Lake'
by Sir Walter Scott)
See also Veteran's Cross, Funeral Cross and Wreath
