It’s easy for us to think that Marketing, Advertising and Corporate Branding are all relatively recent developments that plague our modern life.

However when I was at the excellent Knights of St John Museum in London yesterday I was reminded that in one way or the other, advertising has been with us since times immemorial.

Can you guess what the object below is?

Knights of St. John Bread Brander

It’s actually a clever idea; a stone that was used to brand bread that was either distributed to the poor or for use in church services.

The faint outline of what might be more widely known as the Maltese Cross or the Order of the Knights of St. John can be seen.

The Knights of St. John or the Hospitaliers specialised in treating the sick, wounded and later poor in Jerusalem, Rhodes, Malta and elsewhere.   The no doubt hungry destitute would be reminded just who their kindly saviours were before every meal.

Pretty clever, you can’t get more effective advertising than on food!  You can see the flag below

The Maltese Cross