Sigillvm Militvm Xpisti

The Seal of the grand master of the Knights Templar

The Templar Seal shows two knights on one horse. Contemporary legend held that the symbol represented the initial poverty of the order; that they could afford only a single horse for every two men. According to legend, Hugues de Payens (the first Grand-Master of the Templars) and Godfrey de Saint-Omer were so poor that between the two of them, they had only one horse, and this gave rise to the famous image on the seal of the Templars, of two men riding a single horse.

The seals of the different Grand Masters throughout the order’s history did have textual differences. SIGILLUM MILITUM XPISTI (Latin, Seal of the Soldiers of Christ). is the seal of Reynaut de Vichiers, who was Master of the Temple from 1255-1259