Fury as ‘woke’ MoD bosses threaten to strip the cross from chaplains’ navy cap badge in bid to make division extra ‘numerous and multi-cultural’
The cross is set to be removed from the badge of Army chaplains in a ‘woke’ move condemned by a formermilitary chief.
Members of the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department, which was formed in 1796, wear a cap badge which has either a Maltese Cross or a Star of David at its centre.
However, as part of efforts to make the department more ‘diverse and multicultural’, there are plans for the badge to be shorn of all religious symbolism, the Daily Mail can disclose.
An image of the proposed badge obtained by this newspaper shows that the Maltese Cross, associated with the medieval Knights of St John and worn by Christian padres, or the Star of David for their Jewish counterparts – are to be expunged. So, too, is the motto which encircles those images: ‘In This Sign Conquer’.
Instead, there will now be King Charles’s cypher, consisting of two entwined initials – ‘C’ for his name, and ‘R’ for his title, Rex, Latin for king – beneath a crown.
Former head of the Army Lord Dannatt expressed his dismay at the radical change, warning that the raison d’etre of the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department was being imperilled.
‘It’s very disappointing to see the removal of the Maltese Cross and the Star of David,’ he told the Daily Mail last night. ‘These are important religious symbols which are at the heart of what the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department has always stood for.
‘Of course, there is a moral dimension to soldiering, but there is also a spiritual dimension, and we water this down at our peril. If the Army now wants a welfare service, that’s fine – but don’t let us muddle up a welfare service with a spiritual service.’
Members of the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department, which was formed in 1796, wear a cap badge
The Maltese Cross, associated with the medieval Knights of St John and worn by Christian padres, or the Star of David for their Jewish counterparts – are to be expunged. So, too, is the motto which encircles those images: ‘In This Sign Conquer’.
An image of the proposed badge shows that there will now be King Charles’s cypher, consisting of two entwined initials – ‘C’ for his name, and ‘R’ for his title, Rex, Latin for king – beneath a crown.
Lord Dannatt, who was Chief of the General Staff from 2006 to 2009, added: ‘Is nothing sacred anymore?’
No fewer than four members of the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department have been awarded the Victoria Cross, the nation’s highest honour for valour. It’s a record made even more remarkable given they were forbidden from bearing arms – as they still are.
The Ministry of Defence, which, according to the latest published figures, has 60,640 full-time civilian employees on its books, compared with an Army that has shrunk to 73,000, has made no official announcement of the change. It has, however, made clear its enthusiasm for abandoning the Judeo-Christian tradition of the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department, whose patron – equivalent to colonel – is Queen Camilla.
‘The Royal Army Chaplains’ Department is an increasingly diverse and multicultural organisation which recruits both religious and non-religious personnel,’ says the MoD website, adding that it accepts applications from people who are ‘in good standing with their relevant belief or faith community’.
This would have been unthinkable only 30 years ago, when the RAChD’s headquarters was at Bagshot Park, previously the principal residence of Queen Victoria’s third son, the Duke of Connaught, who died there in 1942. George VI then offered it for use by Army padres, who remained there until 1996, after which it became the home of Prince Edward and Sophie. The now Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh restored a sign by Bagshot’s pond which bore the playful inscription: ‘Chaplains Must Not Walk On The Water’.
An Army spokesman insisted last night that ‘no decisions’ had yet been taken about the badge. However, the spokesman added: ‘The Army regularly reviews its uniforms and insignia to ensure we remain a modern and forward-looking organisation while retaining our connection to the centuries of tradition that have shaped and sustained us.’
