A saltire, or Saint Andrew's Cross, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross ☓ or letter x. Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred on such a cross. In the Russian Orthodox tradition, the phrase Saint Andrew's Cross is often equated with the Orthodox cross, because of the tradition that Saint Andrew used such a cross when preaching in the respective regions. The Saltire design is however distinct from that of the Orthodox Cross.
It appears in numerous flags, including those of Scotland and Jamaica, and other coats of arms and seals. A variant, also appearing on many past and present flags and symbols, is the Cross of Burgundy flag.
A warning sign in the shape of a saltire is also used to indicate the point at which a railway line intersects a road at a level crossing.
In Unicode, the cross is encoded at U+2613 ☓ saltire (HTML: ☓ ) and U+0078 x latin small letter x (HTML: x ).
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The saltire appears on vexilla that are represented consistently on coinage of Christian emperors of Rome, from the fourth century. Anne Roes found it on coins of Constantius II, Valentinian, Jovian, Gratianus, Valens, Arcadius, Constantine III, Jovinus, Theodosius I, Eugenius and Theodosius II, though she searched only coins at the British Museum.[1] In the ninth and tenth century the saltire was revived in Constantinople as a symbol of Christian-imperial power.
Anne Roes detected the symbol, which often appears with balls in the quadrants formed by the arms of the chi-cross, in standards represented on coins of Persepolis, and she suggested that early Christians endorsed its solar symbolism as appropriate to Christ, and suggested "although it cannot be proved, that in the white saltire of St. Andrew we still have a reminiscence of the old standard of the Persepolitan kingdom."[2]
Like other ordinaries, a single saltire is throughout — extending to the edges of the field — as in the coat of Anderson, Canada (Or on a saltire engrailed Azure two quill pens in saltire Argent enfiling a Loyalist military coronet Or); unless it is blazoned as couped (cut off), as in the coat of Greenwood (Sable a chevron Erminois cotised between three saltires couped Or).
When two or more saltires appear, they are usually blazoned as couped.
A saltorel is a narrow saltire; the term is usually defined as one-half the width of the saltire, and is a relatively recent "innovation" which is really not very different from a fillet saltire (as in the South African coat of National Cultural and Open-air Museum: Or; an ogress charged with a fillet saltire surmounted by an eight spoked wheel or, and ensigned of a billet sable; a chief nowy gabled, Sable).
A field (party) per saltire is divided into four areas by a saltire-shaped 'cut'. If two tinctures are specified, the first refers to the areas above (in chief) and below (in base) the crossing, and the second refers to the ones on either side (in the flanks); an example is the coat of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Per saltire Vert and Or four Fers de Moline counterchanged in fess point a Fountain. Otherwise, each of the four divisions may be blazoned separately.
The phrase in saltire is used in two ways:
The Flag of Scotland, called The Saltire or St Andrew's Cross, is a blue field with a white saltire; according to tradition, it represents Saint Andrew, who is supposed to have been crucified on a cross of that form (called a crux decussata) at Patras. The St Andrew's Cross was worn as a badge on hats in Scotland, on the day of the feast of St Andrew.[1] It is the oldest continuously used sovereign flag in the world, having been in use since AD 832 - or so legend has it.
Numerous flags are inspired by the saltire and the colours blue and white—mostly connected with Scotland, where Saint Andrew is the national patron saint. The naval ensign of the Imperial Russian (1696–1917) and Russian navies (1991–present) is a blue saltire on a white field. Prior to the Union the Royal Scots Navy used a red ensign incorporating the St Andrew's Cross; this ensign is now sometimes flown as part of an unofficial civil ensign in Scottish waters. With its colours exchanged (and a lighter blue), the same design forms part of the arms and flag of Nova Scotia (whose name means 'New Scotland'). The flags of the Spanish island of Tenerife and the remote Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia also use a white saltire on a blue field.
Saltires are also seen in several other flags, including the flags of Grenada, Jamaica, Alabama, Florida, Jersey, Amsterdam, Potchefstroom and Valdivia. The design is also part of the Confederate Battle Flag and Naval Jack used during the American Civil War (see Flags of the Confederate States of America). William Porcher Miles, designer of the Confederate Battle Flag never claimed it to be a St. Andrew's cross design, but rather a heraldic saltire without religious symbolism.
In the European Union standard, a black saltire set in a orange square is the hazard symbol for irritants (Xi) or harmful chemicals (Xn). It indicates a hazard less severe than skull and crossbones, used for poisons, or the corrosive sign.
A saltire is the conventional road sign used to indicate the point at which a railway line intersects a road at a level crossing, called a "crossbuck" in this context.
A white saltire on a blue background (or black on yellow for temporary signs) is displayed in UK railway signalling as a "cancelling indicator" for the Automatic Warning System (AWS), informing the driver that the received warning can be disregarded.
In Cameroon, a red "X" placed on illegally constructed buildings scheduled for demolition is occasionally referred to as a "St Andrew's Cross". It is usually accompanied by the letters "A.D." ("à détruire" - French for "to be demolished") and a date or deadline. During a campaign of urban renewal by the Yaoundé Urban Council in Cameroon, the cross was popularly referred to as "Tsimi's Cross" after the Government Delegate to Yaoundé Urban Council Gilbert Tsimi Evouna.[3]
Less formally, on occasions of political controversy in many countries and times the usage of marking the face of a political opponent on a poster with an "X" is a commonly understood way of expressing strong disapproval, sometimes even the wish to kill the person whose picture is so marked.
The Maria Theresa thaler has a saltire to symbolize the 1750 debasement of the coinage, from 9 to 10 thalers to a Vienna mark, a weight of silver. An "X" is the Roman numeral symbol for "10".
The term derives from the Middle English and Middle French words for an X-shaped animal barricade that people could jump over. Presumably, the animals could jump over the middle of the X as well, but it never occurred to them to do so.
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