Official Band Logo and its Symbolism
The official logo of the Edmonton Firefighters' Piping & Drumming Society is comprised of our official band cap badge, inset over our tartan and surrounded by a Celtic knot.
Celtic knots (also known as 'endless knots' or 'mystic knots') are series of overlapping or interwoven knots which have no clear start or end.They started to appear in Celtic Art in the second half of the 5th Century whereas Celtic spirals appeared much earlier, as early as 600 BC. For us it signifies the infinite bond of firefighters and first responders around the world. Included at the top of our logo is the Pipes & Drums, which signatures our purpose to come together to honour that bond, through the playing and tradition of the great highland music of our Pipes & Drums.
Attached to the Maltese cross is our motto of Tradition, Honour, Pride. The history of the maltese cross dates back to the 15th century. The Maltese cross is known around the world as a symbol of the fire service. It is often seen painted on fire trucks, on the clothing of firefighters, depicted on firefighters badges, and is quite often the chosen design of firefighter tattoos. So where did the Maltese cross come from, and how did it get to be known as a symbol of the fire service?
The Badge of a Firefighter is the Maltese Cross. The 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 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 horrible device of war. It wrought excruciating pain and agonizing death upon the brave fighters for the cross. The Saracens 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 Fire Fighters and the first of a long list of courageous Firefighters. Their heroic efforts were recognized by fellow crusaders who awarded each hero a badge of honor-a cross similar to the one fire fighters wear today. Since the Knights of St. John livedfor 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 Fire Fighter 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 Firefighter's badge of honor, signifying that he works in courage...a ladder rung away from death.
Our Bass drum carries a similar logo, but for advertising and parade purposes it has a slightly different layout. With Edmonton Firefighters written in larger letters and local 209 in place of the Pipes & Drums, to show case our local at union events.