Coat_of_arms_of_the_Knights_Hospitaller
Flag and coat of arms of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Flag of the Knights Hospitaller and Jerusalem
The flag and coat of arms of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, or the Jerusalem flag,[2] display a white cross on a red field (blazon gules a cross argent), ultimately derived from the design worn by the Knights Hospitaller during the Crusades.
The flag represents the Sovereign Military Order of Malta as a sovereign institution. The state flag bears a Latin cross that extends to the edges of the flag. The flag of the Order's works represents its humanitarian and medical activities, and bears a white Maltese cross on a red field. Both flags together represent the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Its constitution states: "The flag of the Order bears either the white Latin cross on a red field or the white eight-pointed cross (cross of Malta) on a red field."[3]