If you go into a biker shop and look at some of the wallets on display, it is not unusual to see a wallet sporting an embossed Iron Cross. Sometimes the Iron Cross is featured alone and sometimes it is featured with crossed guns and/or a skull. But just why do so many biker's wallets display the Iron cross? To fully understand its meaning you need first, to understand a brief history of the iron cross itself.
Iron Cross Through Out History
Most people, especially those here in the USA associate the iron cross with Hitler and regime and therefore see it as a symbol of evil. While there is little doubt that Hitler certainly sullied the original meaning of the Iron Cross. It was once used as a symbol of honor and worn with a sense of pride.
One of the earliest organizations to use the Iron Cross as a symbol was the Knight's Templar. This organization protect pilgrims going to the Holy land among its other duties. The Templar organization used a Red Iron Cross on a white black ground. Another holy organization that used a version of the Iron Cross were the Teutonic Knights a German Catholic organization. It was through these German Holy Knights that the Iron Cross originally became a symbol of first the Prussian and later the German Army, where it was awarded as a medal for bravery in the service of Germany.
It was only Hitler and his regime that made this cross a symbol of fear of hatred.
Beginnings of the Iron Cross as a Biker Symbol
It wasn't until the 1960's that the Iron Cross began being used as a Biker symbol. Originally biker groups began using the Iron Cross on their clothing bikes, wallets and jewelry as a sign of rebellion against the older generation who still had memories of Hitler and what he stood for. Although some of these bikers may have been white supremacist, many bikers simply adopted the symbol as a sign of toughness and to instill shock in the non-bikers they came across.
Iron Crosses On Biker Wallets Today
Today the Iron Cross on biker wallets may have different meanings to different people. For some bikers, they choose wallets with the Iron Cross simply because it is a design that has become embedded in the biker culture or because they like the design.
For other biker's having an Iron Cross wallet is still an outward declaration of toughness of rebellion and living life by their own rules.
Many of the younger Biker's of today choose wallets with the Iron Cross design because they believe that this Cross does represent honor and pride to their organization and to the open road.
Whatever the reason why a Biker may choose a wallet bearing an Iron Cross the design itself is not evil nor does it represent evil it is simply and eye catching design that has meaning whether aesthetically, personally, or as an organization to the biker choosing this wallet.
