Cross of Lorraine
Cross of Lorraine
Main page
2228366

Cross of Lorraine

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Cross of Lorraine

The Cross of Lorraine (French: Croix de Lorraine), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are "graded" with the upper bar being the shorter, though variations with the bars of equal length are also seen. The Lorraine name has come to signify several cross variations, including the Patriarchal cross with its bars near the top. The Cross of Lorraine came to the Duchy of Lorraine via the Kingdom of Hungary in the 15th century. Similar two-barred cross symbols prominently feature in heraldry from Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. Its ultimate origins are from the crozier of an Archbishop. The Cross of Lorraine was used as a symbol of Free France during World War II and was earlier used by French patriots to signify desire to reclaim provinces lost to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War.

The Cross of Lorraine consists of one vertical and two horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are "graded" with the upper bar being the shorter, though variations with the bars of equal length are also seen.[citation needed]

The Cross of Lorraine came from the Kingdom of Hungary to the Duchy of Lorraine. In Hungary, Béla III was the first monarch to use the two-barred cross as the symbol of royal power in the late 12th century. He probably adopted it from the Byzantine Empire, according to historian Pál Engel. René II, Duke of Lorraine inherited the two-barred cross as a symbol from his distant ancestors from the House of Anjou of Hungary, which had inherited it as kings of Hungary from the country's first ruling dynasty, the Árpáds. René's grandfather, René the Good, who used it as his personal sigil, laid claim to four kingdoms, including Hungary. The cross was still known as the "Cross of Anjou" in the 16th century. René II placed the symbol on his flag before the Battle of Nancy in January 1477. In the battle, René defeated the army of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who had occupied the Duchy of Lorraine, and regained his duchy. All coins struck for René bore the symbol thereafter.

The Cross of Lorraine is an emblem of Lorraine in eastern France. Between 1871 and 1918 (and again between 1940 and 1944), the north-eastern quarter of Lorraine (the Moselle department) was annexed to Germany, along with Alsace. During that period the Cross served as a rallying point for French ambitions to recover its lost provinces. This historical significance lent it considerable weight as a symbol of French patriotism. During World War II, Capitaine de corvette Thierry d'Argenlieu suggested the Cross of Lorraine as the symbol of the Free French Forces led by Charles de Gaulle as an answer to the Nazi swastika.

In France, the Cross of Lorraine was the symbol of Free France during World War II, the liberation of France from Nazi Germany and Vichy France along with the allies the United Kingdom and the United States, and Gaullism and includes several variations of a two-barred cross.

The Cross was displayed on the flags of Free French warships, and the fuselages of Free French aircraft. The medal of the Order of Liberation bears the Cross of Lorraine.

De Gaulle himself is memorialised by a 43-metre (141 ft) high Cross of Lorraine in his home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. The Cross of Lorraine was later adopted by Gaullist political groups such as the Rally for the Republic.

French Jesuit missionaries and settlers to the New World carried the Cross of Lorraine c. 1750–1810. The symbol was said to have helped the missionaries to convert the native peoples they encountered, because the two-armed cross resembled existing local imagery.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.