St. Michael's Shield Tie with Small Shields

Over the centuries, St. Michael the Archangel has most often been depicted in art wearing a helmet and armor and carrying a sword and shield. The shape of his shield has varied according to the time and the place where the artist lived. It’s been round, oval, rectangular, and most of the various armorial shapes familiar from heraldry. In recent times, however, because he is patron saint of police officers, religious medal makers have adopted law enforcement badge shapes to cast St. Michael medals. For this reason, we are calling the blue shield device on items in this product line “St. Michael’s Shield” to parallel the “St. Florian’s Cross” of firefighters.