The Crusader's shield is adorned with three stars: the lower star represents the Virgin Mother, the Star of the Sea; the upper stars represent the Carmelites leaders, Elias and Eliseus, the Old Testament prophets. The stars are six pointed in recognition that the Carmelite leaders were both Jews living in the time before Christ and that the hermits of Mount Carmel followed the approved custom of the Church; which for them was the Patriarchal Church of Jerusalem.
St. Elias (aka Elijah) the prophet from the Old Testament was believed by the early Carmelite Monks to have founded the Order. Elias was the first one to pray and await the coming of Our Lady on Mount Carmel. Eliseus was the one who succeeded Elias in this devotion. After Elias, and with the encouragement of Eliseus, hermits established themselves on Mount Carmel, continuing to pray for the coming of Our Lady and the Messiah.