The badge of a fireman is the Maltese Cross.
This Maltese Cross is a symbol of protection and a badge of honor. 

Its story is hundreds of years old. 

When a courageous band of crusaders known as the Knights of St. John, 
fought the Saracens for possession of the holy land, they encountered 
a new weapon unknown to European warriors. It was a simple, but a 
horrible device of war, it wrought excruciating pain and agonizing 
death upon the brave fighters for the cross. The Saracen's weapon 
was fire. As the crusaders advanced on the walls of the city, they 
were struck by glass bombs containing naphtha. When they became 
saturated with the highly flammable liquid, the Saracens hurled a 
flaming torch into their midst. Hundreds of the knights were burned 
alive; others risked their lives to save their brothers-in-arms from 
dying painful, fiery deaths. Thus, these men became our first firemen 
and the first of a long list of courageous firefighters. Their heroic 
efforts were recognized by fellow crusaders who awarded each here a 
badge of honor - a cross similar to the one firemen wear today. 
Since the Knights of St. John lived for close to four centuries on a 
little island in the Mediterranean Sea named Malta, the cross came 
to be known as the Maltese Cross. The Maltese Cross is your symbol 
of protection. It means that the fireman who wears this cross is 
willing to lay down his life for you just as the crusaders sacrificed 
their lives for their fellow man so many years ago. 

The Maltese Cross is a fireman's badge of honor, signifying that he 
works in courage - a ladder rung away from death. 


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