Although some historians believe they can trace the origins of heraldry as far back as prehistoric times, the vast majority still hold, reasonably enough, that heraldry came into being during the early Middle Ages. In fact, Frederick Barbarossa is actually considered to be the ‘father’ of heraldic art!

This was a time when the crusades were at their zenith and participants bore the omni-present emblem of the cross which, in turn, became the hallmark – albeit in different colours – of the military orders. Our Islands fell under the suzerainty of one of the mightiest of these orders, the Hospitallers, who left no stone unturned to show us that they were masters and owners, even through their heraldic emblems which literally covered our cities, villages and even the countryside at large. This brought us into contact with the Knights’ Heraldry, which had a long-lasting effect on various aspects of our past and, to a certain extent, even the present.

Adrian Strickland is well-known for his expertise in heraldry, the study of which is known as vexillology, and in spite of his retirement has kept his esoteric fascination with heraldry very much in view through his various lectures both locally and abroad. His experience resulted in him being responsible for the design of a number of arms, including Malta’s national coat of arms in 1988 and others such as that of the Stock Exchange, APS Bank and even as far away as Australia, for the Maltese Speaker of the New South Wales Parliament.

He has a special interest in Malta, which we can conveniently divide into Pre-Knights, the 268 years of the Knights of St. John, the Inter-Regnum during which the Maltese first awarded medals to their fellow countrymen, the164 years of British presence and then Malta independent and Malta, a modern republic.

Mr Strickland will be presenting an illustrated talk about the Heraldry of the Knights of St. John in Malta, as well as some examples of arms and stories both pre and post-Knights, tomorrow, Monday, 28 March, at the Pardo Hall of Palazzo Parisio (Foreign Affairs Ministry) in Valletta at 6pm.

This is the fifth lecture in the series entitled The Maltese Heritage of the Knights of St. John organised by the Maltese Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.