Flag of the Order of Malta
Officially Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta
Locally Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta
What the flag looks like
A red field with a white cross whose arms run to the edges, centered on the flag.
What it means
The white cross on red has been the Order's emblem since the Middle Ages and recalls its origins as a crusader-era hospital order.
How to remember it
The Order of Malta
is a plain white cross dead center on red, running to every edge; Denmark
pushes its cross towards the pole and Switzerland
keeps its cross short on a square.
Fun facts
- The Order was founded in Jerusalem around 1099 and later ruled Rhodes and then Malta, until Napoleon took the island in 1798.
- Its headquarters, Palazzo Malta on Rome's Via Condotti, has extraterritorial status in Italy.
Order of Malta at a glance
- Status
- Sovereign entity without territory
- Diplomatic relations
- 114 states
- UN status
- Observer since 1994
- Capital
- Rome
- Region
- Sovereign entity
- Languages
- Italian
Flags often confused with the Order of Malta
- Denmark: The Order of Malta and Denmark are both a white cross on red running to the edges. Denmark's cross is shifted towards the hoist; the Order of Malta's sits in the exact center.
- Switzerland: The Order of Malta and Switzerland are both a white cross on red. Switzerland's flag is square and its short cross stops well before the edges; the Order of Malta's flag is rectangular and its cross runs right to the edges.