What is "iron cross"

Iron \I"ron\ ([imac]"[u^]rn), a. [AS. [=i]ren, [=i]sen. See Iron, n.]

1. Of, or made of iron; consisting of iron; as, an iron bar, dust.

2. Resembling iron in color; as, iron blackness.

3. Like iron in hardness, strength, impenetrability, power of endurance, insensibility, etc.; as:

   1. Rude; hard; harsh; severe.

      Iron years of wars and dangers.
      --Rowe.

      Jove crushed the nations with an iron rod.
      --Pope.

   2. Firm; robust; enduring; as, an iron constitution.

   3. Inflexible; unrelenting; as, an iron will.

   4. Not to be broken; holding or binding fast; tenacious. ``Him death's iron sleep oppressed.'' --Philips. Note: Iron is often used in composition, denoting made of iron, relating to iron, of or with iron; producing iron, etc.; resembling iron, literally or figuratively, in some of its properties or characteristics; as, iron-shod, iron-sheathed, iron-fisted, iron-framed, iron-handed, iron-hearted, iron foundry or iron-foundry. Iron age.

      1. (Myth.) The age following the golden, silver, and bronze ages, and characterized by a general degeneration of talent and virtue, and of literary excellence. In Roman literature the Iron Age is commonly regarded as beginning after the taking of Rome by the Goths, A. D. 410.

      2. (Arch[ae]ol.) That stage in the development of any people characterized by the use of iron implements in the place of the more cumbrous stone and bronze.

         Iron cement, a cement for joints, composed of cast-iron borings or filings, sal ammoniac, etc.

         Iron clay (Min.), a yellowish clay containing a large proportion of an ore of iron.

         Iron cross, a German, and before that Prussian, order of military merit; also, the decoration of the order.

         Iron crown, a golden crown set with jewels, belonging originally to the Lombard kings, and indicating the dominion of Italy. It was so called from containing a circle said to have been forged from one of the nails in the cross of Christ.

         Iron flint (Min.), an opaque, flintlike, ferruginous variety of quartz.

         Iron founder, a maker of iron castings.

         Iron foundry, the place where iron castings are made.

         Iron furnace, a furnace for reducing iron from the ore, or for melting iron for castings, etc.; a forge; a reverberatory; a bloomery.

         Iron glance (Min.), hematite.

         Iron hat, a headpiece of iron or steel, shaped like a hat with a broad brim, and used as armor during the Middle Ages.

         Iron horse, a locomotive engine. [Colloq.]

         Iron liquor, a solution of an iron salt, used as a mordant by dyers.

         Iron man (Cotton Manuf.), a name for the self-acting spinning mule.

         Iron mold or Iron mould, a yellow spot on cloth stained by rusty iron.

         Iron ore (Min.), any native compound of iron from which the metal may be profitably extracted. The principal ores are magnetite, hematite, siderite, limonite, G["o]thite, turgite, and the bog and clay iron ores.

         Iron pyrites (Min.), common pyrites, or pyrite. See Pyrites.

         Iron sand, an iron ore in grains, usually the magnetic iron ore, formerly used to sand paper after writing.

         Iron scale, the thin film which forms on the surface of wrought iron in the process of forging. It consists essentially of the magnetic oxide of iron, Fe3O4.

         Iron works, a furnace where iron is smelted, or a forge, rolling mill, or foundry, where it is made into heavy work, such as shafting, rails, cannon, merchant bar, etc.

from German das eiserne kreuz, instituted by Frederick Wilhelm III of Prussia, originally for distinguished military service in the wars against Napoleon.

The Iron Cross (, abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1939–1945). It was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars (EK 1813). The recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (EK 1870), World War I (EK 1914), and World War II (EK 1939, re-introduced with a swastika added in the center). The Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. Two examples of this were civilian test pilots Hanna Reitsch who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, for their actions as pilots during World War II.

The design of the cross symbol was black with a white or silver outline. It was ultimately derived from the cross pattée occasionally used by the Teutonic Order from the 13th century. The black cross patty was also used as the symbol of the German Army from 1871 to March/April 1918, when it was replaced by the bar cross. In 1956, it was re-introduced as the symbol of the , the modern German armed forces.

Iron Cross is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Iron Cross, in comics, may refer to:

• Iron Cross (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics character
• Iron Cross (DC Comics), a member of the DC team the Aryan Brigade
• Iron Cross (Astro City), a German superhero in Kurt Busiek's comic book series Astro City

The Iron Cross Society is University of Wisconsin–Madison's oldest and most prestigious secret societies. Election to the Iron Cross Society has been considered the highest honor a UW–Madison undergraduate could achieve.

Justice/Vengeance (also known as Iron Cross in the United States) is a 2009 British thriller film. The film was written and directed by British film director Joshua Newton. It stars Roy Scheider, who died in February 2008 before his filming was completed. The film was shot in 2007, production completed in 2008, had a preview showing in 2009, premiered at the 26th Boston Film Festival in 2010, and had a limited release in 2011.

Iron Cross is a hardcore/ Oi! band from Baltimore, Maryland and Washington D.C..

They play a rough form of streetpunk, and is one of the first bands in the United States to adopt the skinhead look and the Oi! musical style. Some early members were original to the DC Skinheads (the first Skinhead scene in North America) and had close ties to the Washington, DC hardcore punk subculture, due to its relationship with other hardcore bands, with Ian Mackaye, and with Dischord Records. Singer Sab Grey was one of the many roommates in the Dischord House in Arlington, VA. The band's name — and with most of its members being Skinheads — led to accusations of fascism, which Grey and others in the band and the original DC Skins have always denied. Grey stated in the 1st Iron Cross press kit in 1982, "...oh, and we're not Nazis!"

The Iron Cross was a German and Prussian military decoration and symbol.

Iron Cross may also refer to:

• Iron Cross (Belgium), a Belgian military decoration from the 1830 Belgian Revolution
• Iron Cross (aerial ski trick), a new skool technique popularized by Jonny Moseley in the 1998 Olympics
• Iron Cross (band), a hardcore punk band from United States
• Iron Cross (Burmese band), a rock band from Burma
• Iron Cross Oxalis, the ornamental woodsorrel Oxalis tetraphylla (formerly O. deppei)
• Iron Cross (superhero), a German superhero from Stuttgart in Busiek's Astro City comic books
• Iron Cross (Marvel Comics), a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics
• Iron cross, another name for the cattle catch, a spinal lock grappling hold
• Iron cross, an extremely difficult gymnastic skill performed on rings (gymnastics)
• Crois-iarna, literally "iron cross," a Scottish tool, a type of hank reel used in weaving
• Iron Cross of Honor or SCV Iron Cross, the Southern Cross of Honor Grave Marker
• Iron Cross (film), a 2009 thriller starring Roy Scheider
• Close Combat: Cross of Iron, a real-time tactics game for Windows
• Iron Cross is one of the guitars of James Hetfield from Metallica
• Iron Cross (Secret Society), a secret society at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Iron Cross was established by law in 1833 following the end of the Belgian Revolution to recognise serious wounds received and bravery in battle by Belgian citizens taking part in the fight for Belgian independence from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands between 25 August 1830 and 4 February 1831. A further royal decree of 22 August 1834 created a second class to the Iron Cross for award to all wounded combatants. Due to the lower perceived importance of the second class award and discontent among recipients, the Iron Cross second class was short lived and amalgamated to the Iron Cross first class by decree of 21 February 1835. All recipients now received the (original) first class award.