The validity of any tradition, is dependent on the degree of support provided by historical evidence, and where this is limited, or non-existent, the probability that it represents a reasonable and logical course in the prevailing situation.

Direct evidence of the Order’s early years, although existent, is limited, but from what is known of the nature of Thrones and armies, its traditions are clearly related to the practical need of the period, and free from myth, Unproven tradition must remain tradition rather than history, but the combination of evidence and probability in support of the early traditions of the Order, justifies both serious recognition and due honour.

History records that, in the year 306, Flavius Valerius Constantinus was proclaimed Emperor by his troops in Britain, ad marching with them to achieve effective power, faced his major rival, General Maxentinus, Legend has it that on the eve of this, his greatest battle, he saw a vision of a cross of light superimposed on the sun, and heard an Angels voice crying “in hoc signo vinces” (By this sign you will conquer).To some, this vision was accepted as a miracle, in that it led directly to the consolidation of Christianity in the Empire which, for many centuries, represented the whole Western civilisation, and in holding the first seven Oecumenical Councils formulated the doctrines. Which are the basis of all the Christian Churches of today. Without this vision, it is questionable if Christianity could have survived as more than obscure sect, and it is certain that many of its adherants would today be praying to Mohammed.

To others, the term vision involves an unthinking rejection of all that appertains to it, but the use of the emblem of the cross by Constantine’s troops is a historical fact. It is possible that Constantine’s early views of Christianity developed over a period when his rival Maxentius persuaded the Emperor Diocletion to declare a general persecution of the Christians in the year 303, and I may be that, in not enforcing this persecution within his prefecture, Constantine showed the beginnings of an understanding of Christianity, or perhaps of its political value. In any event, it is clear that Constantine and Maxentius had a different approach to this new religion and this would, no doubt, have been one of the thoughts to pass through Constantine’s mind when facing his rival for the supreme power of the Imperial Throne.

On the eve of the battle, a General must consider all the factors from which victory can be achieved, and the greatest of these is morale; the inspiration of the troops in the rightness of their cause, and the certainty of victory. To Constantine, his vision must have provided, in one blinding flash, the answer he so desperately needed; he, Constantine, would “by this sign conquer” the enemy who opposed it. Tradition has it that he caused an emblem of the vision of the cross to be made, known as the Sacred Labarum, and placed it in the custody of a guard of fifty of his most trusted Nobles. Historical evidence of the use of the Chiro Monogram of Christ on his soldiers’ shields is unquestionable, and on the basis of military practice, from time immemorial, there must have been a prototype emblem, which would have been “trooped” with its ceremonial escort, in much the same way as “colours” are trooped to this day, with ceremonies evolved from the practical requirements of the past.

Constantine’s victory was completed, and in the year 312, he made a triumphal entry into Rome as the undisputed Emperor of the West. Heading the ceremonial procession was the Sacred Labarum, remade in gold and precious stones, for all to see the symbol by which he had conquered, and which was to remain the inspiration for his life. He must have given a great deal of thought to the manner in which its Noble Guard of the battlefield could be honoured in a manner appropriate to the occasion, and prior to the parade, had formally instituted it as a perpetual Knightly Guard, dedicated to the upholding of both the form, and the spirit of the Empire’s new Christian Emblem.  Thus the first Chivalric Order was created. History and legend, prior to this date, record many bodies of some of the characteristics of a Chivalric Order, but its fruition awaited the particular circumstances of this period, in which the concepts of an emerging Christianity were combined with those of the established Patrician hereditary Nobility to inspire the creation of a Chivalric Order, as a predominantly lay and exclusively noble body dedicated in perpetuity to a specific Christian task.