Templar insignia

"In hoc signo vinces
(In this sign, conquer)."

―The unidentified CEO of Abstergo Industries, on the Templar insignia, 2012.

The Templar insignia

The Templar insignia, based on the Mark of Cain, is the symbol of the Templar Order. It typically consists of a red cross pattée on a black or white background, and as such, is often called the Red Cross, or simply the Cross.

History

Prehistory

The Children of Cain, the earliest known incarnation of the Knights Templar, used what they believed to be Cain's branding mark as their insignia after it was given to him as punishment for killing Abel.

Achaemenid Empire

The Persian branch of the Order of the Ancients during the 5th century BCE used the likeness of the Faravahar as their insignia.

Ptolemaic Egypt

In the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the Egyptian branch of the Order of the Ancients used a version of the Mark of Cain, stylized as an ankh accompanying a serpent wearing the pschent double crown, as their insignia.

Tang China

The Chinese branch of the Order of the Ancients during the Tang dynasty used a Golden Turtle as their insignia.

Early Middle Ages

The Anglo-Saxon branch of the Order of the Ancients used the symbol of Yggdrasil as their insignia.

High Middle Ages

During the High Middle Ages, the Knights Templar were a fully public order as the Levantine Rite, and their Crusader soldiers wore the insignia freely on their uniforms.

Renaissance

During the Renaissance, necklaces in the shape of the Templar cross became common pieces of jewelry worn by many members of the Order, including the Portuguese Templar Nuno Caro, and the Italian Templar Paulino Massa. As the Templars expanded their reach to new territories like Japan, this practice was quickly adopted by several of the Order's new recruits, like Kimura Kei and Imagawa Tomeji, who proudly displayed the insignia on their clothing.

Golden Age of Piracy

By the time of the Golden Age of Piracy, the Templars had long developed into a secretive society. The Grand Master of the West Indies Rite, Laureano de Torres y Ayala, relied on this near-global ignorance to subtly include a red cross on his belt.

This period of time also saw the greatest usage of Templar rings, small pieces of jewelry displaying the Order's insignia. Typically bestowed upon new Templar recruits during their induction into the Order, these rings were designed to be inconspicuous to regular civilians, but not to those who were already aware of the Templars' existence.

Colonial America

During the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution, the Templars remained a secretive organization, and as such continued the tradition of displaying their insignia on relatively small and inconspicuous items, like belt buckles, sash ends, and rings. Still, there were exceptions, as Shay Cormac would occasionally have his sloop-of-war, the Morrigan, proudly fly black sails with a prominent red cross.

French Revolution

By the French Revolution, the Templars maintained their practice of hiding the symbol from the public by limiting its use to small items such as Templar pins or only displaying it behind closed doors, such as the secret Templar office in François-Thomas Germain's shop. Like in America, there were exceptions where individuals openly displayed the symbol, as was the case with Chrétien Lafrenière's religious regalia, which relied on the Catholic Church's wide usage of the symbol to deceive people on the true meaning of his crosses.

Industrial Revolution

During the Industrial Revolution, the Templars once more displayed their insignia in public in the form of the logo for Crawford Starrick's corporation, the Starrick Telegraph Company, which used an alésée cross pattée, and an alternate sign for the Templar-affiliated gang, the Blighters. High-ranking Templars wore the insignia in the form of mantels and arm bands, while Starrick himself kept a jeweled alésée cross pattée for ceremonial purposes.

Modern times

By the modern era, the Templars had largely removed themselves from the public eye completely, with only certain members of their Inner Sanctum wearing rings with the Templar insignia displayed on them, even when amongst their brethren.

Renditions

• 
  The Mark of Cain, as depicted in Glyph #6
• 
  The cross as depicted in Glyph #8
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  A stylized Maltese cross bearing the first letters of the Templar motto
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  The Levantine Templars' insignia
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  The flag of the 12th-century Knights Templar
• 
  A Templar badge
• 
  The Morrigan with Templar sails
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  Logo of the Starrick Telegraph Company
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  A Templar necklace
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  The necklace worn by Crawford Starrick
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  A Templar pin worn by Rexford Kaylock
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  Modern Templar insignia
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  Templar cross