The Seal of the Order
The figure below depicts the Seal of the Order. This design was inaugurated in conjunction of the adoption of the Rule of the Order at the Council of Troyes, 1128. It is to be seen as an important milestone in the development of the Order into a coherent body with a significant influece on the matters in Europe and the Holy Land.
In the Seal we see two knights riding one horse, and the text "Sigillum Militum Christi" surrounding the image.
The image stems from two sources; firstly the poverty vow of the knights, with
two knights economically riding one horse, and secondly, from the knight
carrying his wounded comrade from battle. Later the seal also was taken to mean
the alleged homosexual practices of the Order. We rest the case and let each
reader take the meaning he or she prefers.