Cross pattée: Difference between revisions

[[File:Cross-Pattee-Heraldry.svg|thumb|right|Standard form of the cross pattée or Pate]]

A '''cross pattée''', '''cross patty or Pate''', or '''cross paty''', also known as a '''cross formy''' or '''cross formée''' ({{lang-langx|fr|croix pattée}}, {{lang-langx|de|Tatzenkreuz}}) or '''[[Templar]] cross''', is a type of [[Christian cross]] with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight line shape, to be broader at the perimeter. The form appears very early in medieval art, for example in a metalwork [[treasure binding]] given to [[Monza Cathedral]] by Queen[[Lombards|Lombard]] queen [[Theodelinda]] (died 628), and the 8th-century lower cover of the [[Lindau Gospels]] in the [[Morgan Library]]. An early English example from the start of the age of heraldry proper (i.e. about 1200) is found in the arms of [[Baron Berkeley]].

The word ''pattée'' is a [[French language|French]] adjective in the feminine form used in its full context as ''la croix pattée'', meaning literally "footed[[foot]]ed [[cross]]", from the noun ''patte'', meaning literally [[foot]], generally that of an [[animal]].<ref>''Larousse Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise'' Lexis, Paris, 1993, p.1356</ref> The cross has four splayed feet, each akin to the foot, for example, of a [[chalice]] or [[candelabrum]]. In [[German language|German]] it is called ''Tatzenkreuz'' from ''Tatze'', foot, paw. [[James Planché|Planché]] provides a dubious suggestion that the term comes from the Latin verb ''pateo'', to lie open, be spread. He states it to be discernible on the [[Flag|standard]] of [[Stephen of England|King Stephen]] (1135–1154).<ref>[[James Planché|Planché, J.R.]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=SFcBAAAAQAAJ ''The Pursuivant of Arms; or Heraldry Founded upon Facts'']. London, 1859, p.29</ref>

|[[File:Cross-Pattee-Alisee.svg|center|64x64px]]||With the ends of the arms convex and curved; sometimes called ''cross alisée'' ({{lang-langx|fr|croix pattée alésée arrondie|lit=rounded reamed {{tooltip|patté|having branches that widen by curving at their ends}}<ref name=def>{{Cite web |date=2012 |title=PATTÉ : Définition de PATTÉ |url=https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/academie8/patt%C3%A9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811113847/https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/academie8/patt%C3%A9 |archive-date=2023-08-11 |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=Centre National de Ressources Textualles et Lexicales}}</ref> cross}}).

|[[File:Cross-Pattee-alternate2.svg|center|64x64px]]{{dubious|date=August 2023}}||With triangular arms which come close to filling a square. One example is an artistic variant of the ''cross pattee'' components in the Sancroft arms, seen thrice in the ecclesiastical coat of arms of [[William Sancroft]] (1617-93), [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in a mid-1740s stained glass at [[St Lawrence's Church, Mereworth]].

|[[File:Cross-Pattee-alternate.svg|center|64x64px]]||With straight parallel lines at the centre, it still fits the general definition of "having branches that widen by curving at their ends",<ref name=def /> and is considered ''pattée'' in [[Rudolf Koch]]'s ''The Book of Signs''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Koch |first1=Rudolf |author1-link=Rudolf Koch |title=The book of signs |date=1955 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York |isbn=9780486201627 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/509534|oclc=509534}}</ref> ({{lang-langx|de|Das Zeichenbuch}}).

A cross ''pattée'' is particularly associated with crowns in Christian countries. It is often heavily jewelled, with diamonds and precious stones. The [[Koh-i-Noor]] diamond is set in a cross pattée on the [[Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother]]. The British [[Imperial State Crown]] has a base of four crosses pattée alternating with four [[fleur-de-lis|fleurs-de-lis]]. A cross ''pattée'' on the Imperial State Crown holds the [[Black Prince's Ruby]]. The cross pattée also features in many of the other British Crowns including the [[St Edward's Crown]], used for coronations, and the [[Imperial Crown of India]] created for [[George V]] as [[Emperor of India]] to wear at the [[Delhi Durbar#Durbar of 1911|Delhi Durbar of 1911]].

In 1813, King [[Frederick William III]] of [[Prussia]] established the [[Iron Cross]] as a decoration for military valor, and it remained in use, in various forms, by Prussia and later [[Germany]] until 1945. A stylized version of the [[Iron Cross]] is used to date by the German army ([[Bundeswehr]]) as its symbol of nationality, and is found on vehicles, aircraft and publications.

Prussian and Imperial German ''Landwehr'' and ''Landsturm'' troops used a Cross Pattée cap badge to distinguish them from regular army troops. A stylized version of the Cross Pattée is used by the modern German military (''[[Bundeswehr]]'') as its symbol of nationality, and is found on vehicles, aircraft and publications, with no border of any kind at the ends of each arm (as was the case with the ''[[Balkenkreuz]]'' used on German aircraft in 1918-1945).

File:Niksic Coat-Grbof-Arms.gifsvg|Coat of arms of [[Nikšić Municipality]]

File:Security Service of Ukraine Emblem.svg|Emblem of the [[Security Service of Ukraine]]

File:Novohrad-Volynskyi coat of arms (1796).gif|Coat of arms of the Russian Volhynian Vice-royalyroyalty (Namestnichestvo)

It appears in the embleminsignia of: