KNIGHT'S STAR JEWEL

CATEGORIES OF JEWELS

 KNIGHT'S STAR JEWEL

 CONTENTS:-

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   1. DESCRIPTION OF JEWEL.

   2. EXRACT FROM LAWS & REGULATIONS.

   3. "IN HOC SIGNO VINCES"

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1. DESCRIPTION OF JEWEL.

OBVERSE OF JEWEL

A Knight's Star Jewel.

In hoc signo vinces is the rendition in Latin of the Greek phrase "εν τούτω νίκα", en toutō nika, meaning "in this [sign] you will conquer".

Close-up of Knight's Passion Cross.

REVERSE OF JEWEL

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2. EXRACT FROM LAWS & REGULATIONS.

Law 94

Jewels

The Jewel of the Order is a Silver Seven- pointed Star, charged on the centre with a Passion Cross enclosed by a circle bearing the motto "In Hoc Signo Vinces" and is worn on the left breast of the Surcoat.

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3. "IN HOC SIGNO VINCES".

In hoc signo vinces is the rendition in Latin of the Greek phrase "εν τούτω νίκα", en toutō nika, meaning "in this [sign] you will conquer".

According to legend, Constantine I adopted this Greek phrase, "εν τούτω νίκα", as a motto after his vision of a chi rho on the sky just before the Battle of Milvian Bridge against Maxentius in the year 312.

Detail from The Vision of the Cross by assistants of Raphael, depicting the vision of the cross and the Greek writing "Ἐν τούτῳ νίκα" in the sky, before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

The early Christian symbol consists in a cross formed by the Greek letters chi (X) and rho (P), the first two in the name Christ (Greek: Χριστός). The historian Eusebius states that Constantine was marching with his army (Eusebius doesn't specify the actual location of the event, but it's clearly not in the camp at Rome), when he looked up to the sun and saw a cross of light above it, and with it the Greek words "εν τούτω νίκα" ("by this, be victorious!", often rendered in Latin as In hoc signo vinces).

At first, Constantine didn't know the meaning of the apparition, but in the following night, he had a dream in which Christ explained to him that he should use the sign against his enemies. Eusebius then continues to describe the Labarum, the military standard used by Constantine in his later wars against Licinius, showing the Chi-Rho sign.

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