St Mark

Badge, possibly a pilgrim badge from the shrine of St Mark in Venice, Italy. This badge is in the form of a lion’s head surrounded by six petals (the sixth, at the top of the badge, is missing). St Mark the Evangelist was thought to have been martyred in Alexandria, Egypt. In the 9th century, a group of Venetian merchants smuggled his body out of Egypt. They took the body to Venice and built a new shrine to St Mark in a chapel which later became the basilica of San Marco. The symbol of St Mark was a lion. Other, non-religious lion badges are also known, as the lion was a popular symbol of power and bravery. It is uncertain whether this badge is religious in nature.