…Saint Francis used the Sign of the Tau as a signature or seal…
From the time Pope Innocent III used the Sign of the Tau Cross at the IV Lateran Council Saint Francis began to use the Tau as his signature or sign. The symbol of the Tau in this picture is said to be a copy of one Saint Francis put on the wall of his cell at Fonte Colombo where he wrote the Rule of 1223. Today the Tau Cross is the chosen sign of the Secular Franciscan Order. It is not exclusive to the OFS since almost any young person who has ever visited the town of Assisi has gone away wearing a wooden Tau Cross and Franciscan Friars and Sisters and Franciscan Youth Groups everywhere cherish it as a Franciscan Symbol.
