Mayo County Fire Service

Insignia

	Perseverance
Tact		Loyalty
Gallantry		Observation
Dexterity		Sympathy
	Explicitness

 

The eight-pointed star is the Cross of Saint John. It comes from the Maltese Cross, the emblem of the Knights of Malta. It was used by the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem at the time of the crusades.

The points of tenets were said to represent the qualities which a knight needed. These were called the knightly virtues.

Because these represent the qualities required by firefighters, the star was chosen for the insignia of the National and Auxiliary Fire Service. It is still the insignia used by the Fire Service today.

The Mayo Crest consists of nine yew trees, a Patriarchal Cross and three Passion Crosses, with a ship and waves. The word Maigh Eo (Mayo) means "the plain of the yews", and the nine yew trees express that fact, with one for each barony of the county. The Patriarchal Cross (a cross with two bars) symbolises the Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam and the three Passion Crosses represent the other three Catholic dioceses in Mayo, i.e. Achonry, Killala, and Galway-Kilmacduagh-Kilfenora.

Mayo is a maritime county and that fact is represented by the ship and waves. The colour scheme of the crest incorporates the Mayo Gaelic Athletic Association (G.A.A.) colours, green and red. The motto "Dia is Muire Linn" translates as "God and Mary be with us". The rose represents the gold rose presented to Knock Shrine by Pope John Paul 11 during his visit in 1979.