(French: croix; Latin: crux)
One of the earliest and noblest of the honourable ordinaries; indeed it was called the first honourable ordinary. It is composed of four lines, two parallel lines perpendicular and two transverse, not drawn throughout, but meeting by couples in four right angles about the fess point of the shield.
The contents of the cross, when not charged with any other bearing, should be one-fifth part of the field, but, when charged, one-third of its surface. Its adoption as a heraldic bearing had its origin, no doubt, at the time of the first Crusade, and pilgrims took the cross as a badge or cognizance, not only in their pilgrimages, but afterwards, to perpetuate the memory of their mistaken piety and zeal. It was the ensign or banner in those holy, or rather unholy wars against the infidels, from which they derived the name of Crusades. The cross was adopted from earliest times as the flag of several nation, England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland, among others. The English cross of St George, the Scottish cross of St Andrew and the Irish cross of St Patrick were blended, and now form the Union Flag of the United Kingdom.
Crosses are very common bearings in coat-armour and are variously formed with different appellations, when borne plain it is blazoned simply a cross. but, when the cross is merely so called, without any other description, it is to be understood as plain.
Crosses are generally borne with their extremities attached to the edges or sides of the shield, but when they are cut off to prevent their joining or extending so far or when they terminate in some particular form or device, they are then termed couped, humetté or humet. The surface of all crosses, like the field, may be borne of the different furs and divided barways, paleways, bendways, etc. of different tinctures.
There are, however, more than a hundred varieties, some of which are detailed below. They may be accessed by clicking each page but please note that it is a large site and may take several minutes to download without a broadband connection. Click on each cross for further details.
