Christian cross variants#Greek cross
{{Short description|Variations on the religious symbol through Christian history}}
File:Solidus-Leontinus-sb1330.jpg holding a globus cruciger, with a stepped cross on the obverse side]]
File:Seal of Niketas, commander of the Imperial Fleet.jpg as used in a 9th-century Byzantine seal]]
File:Greek and Latin cross - Temple of Saint Sava_and St Paul's Cathedral.jpg) and Latin cross (St. Paul's cathedral) in church floorplans]]
The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the corpus (Latin for "body").
The term Greek cross designates a cross with arms of equal length, as in a plus sign, while the Latin cross designates a cross with an elongated descending arm. Numerous other variants have been developed during the medieval period.
Christian crosses are used widely in churches, on top of church buildings, on bibles, in heraldry, in personal jewelry, on hilltops, and elsewhere as an attestation or other symbol of Christianity.
Crosses are a prominent feature of Christian cemeteries, either carved on gravestones or as sculpted stelae. Because of this, planting small crosses is sometimes used in countries of Christian culture to mark the site of fatal accidents, or, such as the Zugspitze or Mount Royal, so as to be visible over the entire surrounding area.
Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran depictions of the cross are often crucifixes, in order to emphasize that it is Jesus that is important, rather than the cross in isolation. Large crucifixes are a prominent feature of some Lutheran churches, e.g. as a rood. However, some other Protestant traditions depict the cross without the corpus, interpreting this form as an indication of belief in the resurrection rather than as representing the interval between the death and the resurrection of Jesus.
Several Christian cross variants are available in computer-displayed text. A Latin cross ("†") is included in the extended ASCII character set,{{cite web |title=ASCII Code—The extended ASCII table |url=https://www.ascii-code.com/ |website=ASCII-Code.com |access-date=28 May 2020}} and several variants have been added to Unicode, starting with the Latin cross in version 1.1.{{cite web |title=Unicode Character "✝" (U+271D) |url=https://www.compart.com/en/unicode/U+271D |website=Compart.com |access-date=28 May 2020}} For others, see Religious and political symbols in Unicode.
Basic forms
Basic variants, or early variants widespread since antiquity.
A total number of 15 variants.
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! style="width:180px;"| Name ! style="width:530px;"| Description ! {{abbr|Refs.|References}} |
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| style="text-align:center;" |{{anchor|Latin cross}} File:Latin cross (bold).svg
| Cross with a longer descending arm, whereby the top of the upright shaft extends above the transverse beam. It represents the cross of Jesus's crucifixion. In Latin, it was referred to as crux immissa or crux capitata. |
| style="text-align:center;" | {{anchor|Greek cross}}File:Greek cross (bold).svg
| Greek (or Hellenic) cross | A type of cross with arms of equal length, used as a national symbol of Greece, Switzerland, and Tonga. Along with the Latin cross, it is one of the most common Christian forms, in common use by the 4th century. |{{Cite web |title=Greek cross |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-cross |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Meek Baptist Church - Historical Crosses |url=https://www.meekbc.com/historical-crosses |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Meek Baptist Church}} |
| style="text-align:center;"| {{anchor|Byzantine cross}}File:ByzantineCross.svg
| Byzantine cross | Upright cross with outwardly widening ends. It is often seen in relics from the late antique and early medieval Byzantine Empire (until {{Circa|800}}) and was adopted by other Christian cultures of the time, such as the Franks and Goths. |{{Citation |title=Processional Cross, ca. 1000–1050 |date= |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466251 |access-date=2025-03-04 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art}} |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Patriarchal cross (bold).svg
| Patriarchal cross (two-bar cross) | Also called an archiepiscopal cross or a crux gemina. A double-cross, with the two crossbars near the top. The upper one is shorter, representing the plaque nailed to Jesus's cross. Similar to the Cross of Lorraine, though in the original version of the latter, the bottom arm is lower. The Eastern Orthodox (Slavic) cross adds a slanted bar near the foot. |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Double cross (bold).svg
| Double cross | The Cross of the eight-point cross-stone ceremony.{{huh|date=March 2020}} |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Cross of Lorraine (bold).svg
| Cross of Lorraine (two-barred cross) | The Cross of Lorraine consists of one vertical and two horizontal bars. The two-barred cross consists of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are "graded" with the upper bar being the shorter, though variations with the bars of equal length are also seen. |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Papal cross (bold).svg
| A cross with three bars near the top. The bars are of unequal length, each one shorter than the one below. |{{Cite web |title=Papal Cross |url=https://www.ancient-symbols.com/symbols-directory/papal_cross.html |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Ancient Symbols |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |title=Definition of PAPAL CROSS |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/papal%20cross |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}} |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Meuble héraldique Sacré coeur croix.svg
| A depiction of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, featuring flames, a crown of thorns, and a Latin Cross. |{{Cite web |date=2025-01-20 |title=Sacred Heart {{!}} Symbol, Meaning, Feast of, History, & Devotion |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sacred-Heart-Roman-Catholicism |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}} |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Cross of Salem (bold).svg
| Also known as a pontifical cross, it is similar to a patriarchal cross, but with an additional crossbar below the main crossbar, equal in length to the upper crossbar. |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Staurogram (bold).svg
| The earlier visual image of the cross, already present in New Testament manuscripts as P66, P45 and P75. |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Chi Rho (bold).svg
| The Chi Rho ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|aɪ|_|ˈ|r|oʊ}}; also known as chrismon) is one of the earliest forms of christogram, formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters—chi and rho (ΧΡ)—of the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ (Christos) in such a way that the vertical stroke of the rho intersects the center of the chi. |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Calvary cross (bold).svg
| Stepped cross | A cross resting on a base with several steps (usually three), also called a graded or a Calvary cross. This symbol first appears on coinage from the time of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641). The three steps represent Faith, Hope and Charity, and are sometimes marked Fides (top), Spes (middle) and Caritas (bottom), the Latin forms of these words. |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Jerusalem cross potent (bold).svg
| Also known as the Crusader's Cross. A large cross with a smaller cross in each of its angles. It was used as a symbol of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. |{{Cite web |date=2024-11-17 |title=What Is the Jerusalem Cross? |url=https://www.ncregister.com/news/jerusalem-cross-what-is-it-history-and-meaning |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=National Catholic Register |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Giannopoulos |first=Bill |date=2024-11-17 |title=The Jerusalem Cross: Pete Hegseth's Tattoo And The Significance Of Christian And Greek Symbols |url=https://greekcitytimes.com/2024/11/17/the-jerusalem-cross-pete-hegseths-tattoo-and-the-significance-of-christian-and-greek-symbols/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |language=en-GB}} |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Earth symbol (bold).svg
| A cross featuring a ring or nimbus. This type has several variants, including the cruciform halo and the Celtic cross. A cruciform halo is used to represent the persons of the Holy Trinity, especially Jesus, and it was used especially in medieval art. |{{cite book |last1=Herren |first1=Michael W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFqNUMa8bfYC&q=%22Celtic+cross%22+origin&pg=PA199 |title=Christ in Celtic Christianity: Britain and Ireland from the Fifth to the Tenth Century |last2=Brown |first2=Shirley Ann |publisher=Boydell Press |year=2002 |isbn=0851158897 |pages=192–200}}{{Cite web |last=James-Griffiths |first=Paul |date=2021-05-07 |title=Symbolism of the Celtic Cross |url=https://www.christianheritageedinburgh.org.uk/2021/05/07/symbolism-of-the-celtic-cross/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Christian Heritage Edinburgh |language=en-GB}} |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Forked cross (bold).svg
| A cross in the form of the letter Y that gained popularity in the late 13th or early 14th century in the German Rhineland. Also known as a crucifixus dolorosus, furca, ypsilon cross, Y-cross, thief's cross or robber's cross. |{{Cite web |date=2017-04-17 |title=Crucifixus Dolorosus or the Forked Crucifix from c. 1300 |url=https://www.medieval.eu/crucifixus-dolorosus-forked-crucifix-from-c-1300/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Medieval Histories |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Forked Cross |url=https://www.seiyaku.com/customs/crosses/forked.html |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=www.seiyaku.com}} |
Saints' crosses
Denominational or regional variants
{{further|Crosses in heraldry}}
Non-denominational symbols <span class="anchor" id="Gamma cross"></span>
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| File:Crosscrown.svg
|A Christian symbol used by various Christian denominations, particularly the Bible Student movement and the Church of Christ, Scientist. It has also been used in heraldry. The emblem is often interpreted as symbolizing the reward in heaven (the crown) coming after the trials in this life (the cross) (James 1:12). |{{Cite web |date=2012-03-10 |title=The history of the Cross and Crown emblem |url=https://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/research/history-of-the-cross-and-crown-emblem/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Mary Baker Eddy Library |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Cross and Crown |url=https://www.umc.org/en/content/cross-and-crown |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=The United Methodist Church |language=en}} |
| File:Gamma Cross.svg
|Gamma cross |A Greek cross. Each gamma represents one of the four Evangelists, radiating from the central Greek Cross, which represents Christ. The term "Gamma cross" can refer to either a voided cross or a swastika. |
| File:Coa Illustration Croix Aiguisée.svg
|Cross of passion |The Passion Cross has sharpened points at the end of one or more of the cross members. It is also referred to as the Cross of Suffering representing the nails that Christ suffered at his Crucifixion. In heraldry, it is known as the Cross aiguisée. |
Modern innovations
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| style="text-align:center;"| File:Marian Cross.svg File:Marian Cross 2.svg
| A term invented to refer to Pope John Paul II's combination of a Latin cross and the letter M, representing Mary being present on Calvary. |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Christian Universalist symbol (bold).svg
|Off Center Cross of Christian Universalism. | The off-center cross was invented in late April, 1946, in a hotel room in Akron, Ohio, during the Universalist General Assembly, where a number of Universalist ministers pooled their ideas. |{{Cite web |title=The Off-Center Cross |url=http://www.nmuc.org/OffCentr.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228060930/http://www.nmuc.org/OffCentr.htm |archive-date=28 December 2018 |access-date=17 April 2015 |website=The New Massachusetts Universalist Convention}}{{Cite web |date=2019-05-26 |title=About the CUA logo |url=https://christianuniversalist.org/about-the-cua-logo/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Christian Universalist Association |language=en-US}} |
| style="text-align:center;"| File:Church with tower icon (bold).svg File:Church with spire icon (bold).svg | Ordnance Survey cross symbols | Used on Ordnance Survey maps to represent churches and chapels. A cross on a filled square represents a church with a tower; and a cross on a filled circle represents a church with a spire. Churches without towers or spires are represented by plain Greek crosses. These symbols also now refer to non-Christian places of worship, and the cross on a filled circle also represents a place of worship with a minaret or dome. |
| File:Camargue cross.svg
|Symbol for the French region of Camargue, created in 1926 by the painter Hermann-Paul at the request of Folco de Baroncelli-Javon to represent the "Camargue nation" of herdsmen and fishermen. It embodies the three theological virtues of Christianity: faith (represented by tridents of gardians on a Christian cross), hope (represented by the anchor of sinners), and charity (represented by the heart of The Three Marys). |
| File:Ecumenism symbol.jpg
|Symbol of ecumenism, the concept that all church denominations should work together to promote Christian unity. Adopted in 1948, symbolizing the message of the ecumenical movement and tracing its origins to the gospel story of the calling of the disciples by Jesus and the stilling of the storm on Lake Galilee. |
Crosses of Orders
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| File:German Cross.svg
|A German military cross originating as a military decoration in Prussia. Later used in various military and security force decorations in the unified German Empire, Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany and the modern Federal Republic. |{{Cite web |title=Iron Cross {{!}} German Military Award & History |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Iron-Cross |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}} |
| File:Cross of the Military Order of Christ.svg
|A red Greek cross starting initially as wide permanent and widening only at its end to the outside arms, with a white inner simple Greek cross. Not to be confused with the Cross of Saint John nor the Maltese cross. It's the insignia of the Military Order of Christ (Portuguese: Ordem Militar de Cristo), former Knights Templar order as it was reconstituted in Portugal after the Templars were abolished on 22 March 1312, being the Grand Master the current President of Portugal. It's an honorific symbol of the Portuguese Navy, and current symbol of the Portuguese Air Force. |
| File:Cross of the Supreme Order of Christ.svg
|Supreme Order of Christ Cross |A red Latin cross starting initially as wide permanent and widening only at its end to the outside arms, with a white inner simple Latin cross. Not to be confused with the Cross of Saint John nor the Maltese cross. It's the symbol of the Papal Supreme Order of Christ (Italian: Ordine Supremo del Cristo), the highest order of chivalry awarded by the Pope, and it's the Papal parallel to the Order of Christ in both Portugal and Brazil. |
Types of artifacts
Unicode
For use in documents made using a computer, there are Unicode code-points for multiple types of Christian crosses.
- {{unichar|16ED|Runic cross punctuation}}
- {{unichar|205C|Dotted cross}}
- {{unichar|2626|Orthodox cross}}
- {{unichar|2627|Chi rho}}
- {{unichar|2628|Cross of Lorraine}}
- {{unichar|2629|Cross of Jerusalem}}
- {{unichar|2670|West Syriac cross}}
- {{unichar|2671|East Syriac cross}}
- {{unichar|2719|Outlined Greek cross}}
- {{unichar|271A|Heavy Greek cross}}
- {{unichar|271B|Open centre cross}}
- {{unichar|271C|Heavy open centre cross}}
- {{unichar|271D|Latin cross}}
- {{unichar|271E|Shadowed white Latin cross}}
- {{unichar|271F|Outlined Latin cross}}
- {{unichar|2720|Maltese cross}}
- {{unichar|01f548|Celtic cross}}
There are code points for other crosses in the block Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs, mainly variants of the Greek cross, but their usage may be limited by availability of a computer font that can display them.
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Christian crosses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}