Looped square
{{Short description|Symbol}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Redirect|⌘|the computer key|command key}}
The looped square (⌘), also known as Saint John's Arms, Saint Hannes cross (related to Swedish {{lang|sv|sankthanskors}}, Danish {{lang|da|johanneskors}}, and Finnish {{lang|fi|hannunvaakuna}}), and as the command-key symbol due to its use on the command key on Apple computer keyboards, is a symbol consisting of a square with outward pointing loops at its corners. It is referred to as a looped square, for example, in works regarding the Mississippian culture (approximately 800 CE to 1600 CE). It is also known as the place of interest sign{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2300.pdf |title=Miscellaneous Technical – Range: 2300-23FF |publisher=Unicode Consortium}} when used on information signs, a practice that started in Finland in the 1950s, spreading to the other Nordic countries in the 1960s.{{cite web|title=Riksantikvarieämbetets historia|url=https://www.raa.se/om-riksantikvarieambetet/riksantikvarieambetets-historia/|website=raa.se|date=17 August 2017 |publisher=Riksantikvarieämbetet - Swedish National Heritage Board|accessdate=16 March 2018|language=sv}}
It is an ancient symbol used by several cultures, and remains in common use today. It belongs to a class of symbols which are called {{lang|no|valknute}} in Norway.Coat of arms for Lødingen Municipality, blazoned in the Norwegian Royal Decree of 11 May 1984, quoted in Hans Cappelen og Knut Johannessen: Norske kommunevåpen, Oslo 1987, page 197. The term is also used in Anders Bjønnes: Segltegninger fra hyllingene i Norge 1591 og 1610, Oslo 2010, pages 64–65.
Ancient use
The symbol appears on a number of ancient objects in Northern Europe. It features prominently on a picture stone from Hablingbo, Gotland, Sweden, that was created between 400 and 600 CE.{{cite web |url=http://www.gotmus.i.se/1engelska/bildstenar/engelska/hablingbo_havor.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913010553/http://www.gotmus.i.se/1engelska/bildstenar/engelska/hablingbo_havor.htm |archivedate=13 September 2008 |title=The Picture Stone from Havor in Hablingbo |publisher=Länsmuseet på Gotland}}
It is also similar to a traditional heraldic emblem called a Bowen knot.{{cite book |url=http://www.heraldsnet.org/saitou/parker/Jpglossc.htm#Cord |title=A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry: Cord |first=James |last=Parker |year=1894 |accessdate=18 March 2007}}
In Finland, the symbol was painted or carved on houses and barns, and domestic utensils such as tableware, to protect them and their owners from evil spirits and bad luck. The oldest surviving example is a pair of 1000-year-old (Finnish pre-Christian period) wooden skis decorated with the symbol.{{cite book |title=Suomen kansankulttuuri |first=Ilmar |last=Talve |year=1990 |publisher=Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura |isbn=951-717-553-1|language=fi}}{{cite web|title=Ski fragment|url=http://suomenmuseotonline.fi/en/kohde/Arkeologian+osasto/KM9908%3a1|work=Nat'l Board of Antiquities|publisher=Finnish Museums Online|author=Department of Archaeology|location=Helsinki|page=KM9908:1|language=fi|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203004218/http://suomenmuseotonline.fi/en/kohde/Arkeologian+osasto/KM9908%3a1 |archivedate=3 December 2013}}
The looped square also appears on artifacts of the Mississippian culture of the southeastern United States.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Cox Mound Gorget|url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=325|encyclopedia=Tennessee Encyclopedia|publisher=Tennessee Historical Society|accessdate=9 May 2013|author=C. Andrew Buchner|date=2010|quote=The Cox Mound, or Woodpecker, gorget style is a particularly beautiful and enduring symbol of Tennessee’s prehistoric inhabitants. [...] Surrounding the cross and sun is a scroll-like design element known as the looped square. This feature may represent wind, or possibly the litter on which subordinates carried a chief.}}
While not a true knot, many depictions follow the convention for heraldic knots in that the crossings of the strand obey an under–over pattern.
Traditional names
The English names Saint John's Arms, Saint Hannes cross or Saint Hans's Cross as well as the Scandinavian names refer to John the Baptist. The connection is that the celebration of Midsummer's Eve is a major festival in Scandinavia, which in the Julian calendar coincided with the Christian feast celebrating the nativity of Saint John the Baptist, and that the (pagan) symbol was associated with the Midsummer celebrations.Webb, Stephen: Clash of Symbols: A ride through the riches of glyphs, 1st ed. 2018, p. 61, {{ISBN|978-3319713496}}, {{Google books |id=529GDwAAQBAJ |page=61 |title=online}}
Modern use
File:Borgholms_slottsruin_från_luften.jpg]]
In modern times, the symbol is commonly found in Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, and Ukraine as an indicator of locations of cultural interest, beginning in Finland in the 1950s and spreading to the other Nordic countries in the 1960s. There has been modern speculation that it was chosen for its resemblance to an aerial view of Borgholm Castle;{{cite web|last1=Kare|first1=Susan|title=Susan Kare, Iconographer (EG8)|url=http://vimeo.com/97583369|website=Vimeo.com|date=7 June 2014 |accessdate=25 June 2014}} however, as stated its use for attractions began in Finland, not Sweden, and the symbol is well-represented in Scandinavian artifacts that predate the current castle by centuries.
The symbol later gained international recognition via computing. It is used on Apple keyboards as the symbol for the command key{{cite web|title=What does Splat mean?|url=http://www.splatf.com/2011/07/what-does-splatf-mean/|work=SplatF|publisher=Say Media|accessdate=9 May 2013|author=Dan Frommer|date=2 July 2011|quote=Splat refers to the key on a Mac keyboard that's officially called the Command key. Some old-school Mac nerds — my father included — call it the "splat" key, because the symbol sort of looks like something that went "splat". The symbol itself, also known as Saint John’s Arms or the "place of interest sign"... is often seen in Northern Europe.}} as well as in elementary OS as the symbol for the Super key.[https://medium.com/@cassidyjames/why-the-looped-square-symbol-809a3de71bea Why the Looped Square (⌘) Symbol?]. Medium. 1 March 2018.
The looped square is used in the logos of Belgian telecommunications company Proximus and Canadian software company DistillerSR.{{Cite web|url=https://www.proximus.be/en/id_personal/personal.html|title=Welcome to Proximus – Internet, mobile, phone and TV|website=www.proximus.be|accessdate=30 March 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.distillersr.com/|title=Systematic Review and Literature Review Software by DistillerSR|website=DistillerSR|accessdate=30 March 2023}}
Encoding
In Unicode, it is encoded at {{unichar|2318|Place of Interest sign|html=}}, in the block Miscellaneous Technical.
Gallery
{{gallery|File:Fornsalen – Bildstein mit Schleifenquadrat.jpg|Migration Period picture stone from Havor, Hablingbo, Gotland; Gotland Museum, Visby
|File:Eesti kultuurimälestis.jpg|Designation for Estonian Cultural heritage monuments
|File:Cox style gorget HRoe 2012.jpg|Cox mound gorget (Mississippian culture, found in Tennessee, c.1250–1450)
|File:Saint Johns Arms cheese mould Finnish National Museum.jpg|Cheese moulds in the National Museum of Finland, Helsinki
|File:Ranamuseum07.JPG|The ⌘ symbol, Rana museum, Norway
|File:Proximus shop in Brussels August 2017.jpg|Proximus shop in Brussels (Belgium), showing a logo displaying the letter “x” by a looped-square-like shape
|File:Apple key.jpg|An Apple command key
}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Looped squares}}