Templar insignia

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

―The unidentified CEO of Abstergo Industries, on the Templar's 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.

5th century BCE Greece

The Persian branch of the Order of the Ancients used the likeness of the Faravahar as their insignia.

Ptolemaic Egypt

The Egyptian branch of 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 Dynasty China

The Chinese branch of the Order used a Golden Turtle as their insignia.

Anglo-Saxon Europe

The Anglo-Saxon branch of the Order of 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.

The Americas

During the Seven Years' War and subsequent American Revolutionary War, 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, or Templar 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 the insignia in public in the form of the logo for Crawford Starrick's corporation Starrick Telegraph Company, which used an alésée cross pattée, and an alternate sign for the Templar-affiliated Blighters gang. High-ranking Templars wore the insignia in the form of mantels and arm bands, while Starrick himself kept an 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 insignia displayed on them, even when amongst their brethren.

Renditions

• 
  The flag of the 10th century Knights Templar
• 
  Levantine Templars insignia
• 
  Logo of Starrick Telegraph Company
• A stylized Maltese cross bearing the first letters of the Templar motto
  A stylized Maltese cross bearing the first letters of the Templar motto
• 
  The cross as depicted in Glyph #6
• 
  The cross as depicted in Glyph #8
• 
  The necklace worn by Crawford Starrick
• 
  Modern Templar insignia
• 
  Templar cross