Sovereign Military Order of Malta - Flag of Grandmaster Jean Parisot de la Vallette

Jean Parisot de la Vallette (1557-1568)

Last modified: 2008-12-20 by rob raeside
Keywords: sovereign and military order of malta | de la vallette | vallette | grandmaster |
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On this page:

• Description of the flag

See also:

• Sovereign Military Order of Malta
• Historical standards of the Grand Masters

Description of flag

Flag of Grandmaster Jean Parisot de la Vallette (1557-1568) (square)
It is a quarterly divided square flag. The 1st and 4th quarter are showing the white Greek cross in a red field of the Order of St. John. The 2nd and 3rd quarter are showing the personal arms of the grandmaster. The red field is divided by a golden (= yellow) pale. On the dexter side is a silver (= white) rampant crane, on the sinister side a golden red armed and tongued rampant lion. (This lion is also depicted upon the flag of the city of Valletta).

Source: The artist Mateo PEREZ de ALECCIO created a series of paintings, describing the great siege of 1565. Among those is one, showing the Turkish siege of Fort St. Michael on 25 June 1565. This image you can see e.g. in Joseph ELLUL: “1565 - Die große Belagerung von Malta”; p.40. A better image is depicted in MERIAN, (German monthly), no. 47/1; p.105. There are many cross-flags of the order, the biggest of all upon Fort St. Angelo and a tiny one, showing the arms of La Valette, right in the middle of Birgu city, in the quarter of the auberges, north of nowadays Victory Square.

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 21 October 2008

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 21 October 2008

Flag of Grandmaster Jean Parisot de la Vallette(1557-1568) (rectangular)
It is a quarterly divided rectangular flag with ratio estimated 3:5. All the quarters are divided by thin yellow lines from one another. The images upon the quarters are the same like those of the square flag.
Source:
I spotted this flag on 21 September, the independence day of Malta in Republic Street. First I thought, it was the city flag of Valletta. Later I realized, that this flag showed the arms of J.P. de la Vallette. May be that this flag today is used as flag of the “Soz.Fil.Naz. La Valette A.D.1874”. It was hoisted in front of the societies building.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 21 October 2008