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Service Cross
The Episcopal Church Service Cross carries the design of the ancient Crusader's Cross, the five-fold cross symbolic of the five wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ at his crucifixion. The words embossed upon it are taken from the Service of Holy Communion: Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee and feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving.
The Crusader's Cross was originally known as the Jerusalem Cross, incorporated in the coat-of-arms of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century as the coat-of-arms of Godfrey de Bouillon, first ruler of that kingdom. This Jerusalem Cross was carried on the shields, banners, and coats of the Crusaders from England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, and so became identified with them as the Crusader's Cross.
This cross is sometimes used as the emblem of missionary work, the large center cross representing the original Church in Jerusalem, and the smaller crosses indicating the four corners of the earth to which Christianity was spread through missionary endeavor.
The Church War Cross was designed under the direction of Mrs. James DeWolf Perry, wife of the late Bishop of Rhode Island, during World War I for the Army and Navy Commission of the Church. Each Episcopalian entering the Armed Forces was presented with one and the same cross was used during World War II.
The wording on the back of the cross was changed after World War II and now reads "Episcopal Church Service Cross." This cross is a distinct mark of an Episcopalian in the Armed Forces.
--The Office of the Suffragan Bishop for the Armed Forces