triskelion#Manx triskelion

File:Triple-Spiral-Symbol.svg

A triskelion or triskeles is an ancient motif consisting either of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry or of other patterns in triplicate that emanate from a common center. The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human limbs. It occurs in artifacts of the European Neolithic and Bronze Ages with continuation into the Iron Age, especially in the context of the La Tène culture{{cite book |last1=Harding |first1=D.W. |title=The Archaeology of Celtic Art |date=2007 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=15}} and of related Celtic traditions. The actual triskeles symbol of three human legs is found especially in Greek antiquity, beginning in archaic pottery and continued in coinage of Classical Greece.

In the Hellenistic period, the symbol became associated with the island of Sicily, appearing on coins minted under Dionysius I of Syracuse beginning in {{circa|382}} BCE.Arthur Bernard Cook, Zeus: a study in ancient religion, Volume 3, Part 2 (1940), p. 1074. It later appears in heraldry, and, other than in the flag of Sicily, came into use in the arms and flags of the Isle of Man (known in the Manx language as {{lang|gv|ny tree cassyn}} {{gloss|the three legs}}).Officially adopted in 1932, the flag of the Isle of Man derives from the arms of the King of Mann recorded in the 13th century.

Greek {{lang|grc|τρισκελής}} ({{Transliteration|grc|triskelḗs}}) means {{gloss|three-legged}}[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dtriskelh%2Fs τρισκελής], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library from {{lang|grc|τρι-}} ({{Transliteration|grc|tri-}}), {{gloss|three times}}([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dtri- τρι-] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121004181219/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dtri- |date= 2012-10-04 }}, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library) and {{lang|grc|σκέλος}} ({{Transliteration|grc|skelos}}), {{gloss|leg}}.([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dske%2Flos σκέλος], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library) While the Greek adjective {{lang|grc|τρισκελής}} {{gloss|three-legged}} ({{abbr|e.g.|for example}} of a table) is ancient, use of the term for the symbol is modern, introduced in 1835 by Honoré Théodoric d'Albert de Luynes as French {{lang|fr| triskèle}},Honore-Theodoric-Paul-Joseph d'Albert de Luynes, Etudes numismatiques sur quelques types relatifs au culte d'Hecate (1835), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ssylqnh2GXYC&pg=PA83 83f.] and adopted in the spelling triskeles following Otto Olshausen (1886).Johannes Maringer, "Das Triskeles in der vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Kunst", Anthropos 74.3/4 (1979), pp. 566-576 The form triskelion (as it were Greek {{lang|grc|τρισκέλιον}}Classical Greek does not have {{lang|grc|*τρισκέλιον}}, but the form {{Lang|grc|τρισκελίδιον}} {{gloss|small tripod}} is attested as the diminutive of {{lang|grc|τρισκελίς}} {{gloss|three-pronged}}. The form {{lang|el|τρισκέλιον}} does exist in Katharevousa, however, as the term for a small three-legged chair or table (and also of the "Rule of Three" in elementary arithmetic or generally of an analogy). Adamantios Korais, Atakta (Modern Greek Dictionary), vol. 5 (1835), [https://books.google.com/books?id=k7c-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54].) is a diminutive which entered English usage in numismatics in the late-19th century.Barclay Vincent Head, A Guide to the Principal Gold and Silver Coins of the Ancients: From Circ. B.C. 700 to A.D. 1, British Museum. Department of Coins and Medals

, The Trustees, 1881, pp. 23, 67f.English triskelion is recorded in 1880 (etymonline.com); the form triskele in English is occasionally found beginning in c. 1885 (e.g. in Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool 39, 1885, p. 220), presumably as a direct representation of the French form {{lang|fr|triskèle}}. The form consisting of three human legs (as opposed to the triple spiral) has also been called a "triquetra of legs", also triskelos or triskel.Samuel Birch, Charles Thomas Newton, A Catalogue of the Greek and Etruscan Vases in the British Museum vol. 1 (1851), [https://books.google.com/books?id=qU0VAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA61 p. 61].

Samuel Birch, History of Ancient Pottery vol. 1 (1858), [https://books.google.com/books?id=pbwiNnFR5lEC&pg=PA164 p. 164].

Birch's use of triskelos is informed by the Duc de Luynes' triskèle, and it continues to see some use alongside the better-formed triskeles into the 20th century in both English and German, e.g. in a 1932 lecture by C. G. Jung (lecture of 26 October, edited in The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1932. 1996, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-nKNaXCYlQC&pg=PA43 43ff.]).

Use in European antiquity

=Neolithic to Iron Age=

File:Celtic spiral.jpg at Newgrange]]

The triple spiral symbol, or three-spiral volute, appears in many early cultures: the first appeared in Malta (4400–3600 BCE); the second in the astronomical calendar of the megalithic tomb of Newgrange in Ireland built around 3200 BCE;{{cite web|url=http://knowth.com/newgrange.htm |title=Newgrange Ireland - Megalithic Passage Tomb - World Heritage Site |publisher=Knowth.com |date=2007-12-21 |access-date=2013-08-16}} as well as on Mycenaean vessels. The Neolithic-era symbol of three conjoined spirals may have had triple significance similar to the imagery that lies behind the triskelion.Anthony Murphy and Richard Moore, Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers, 2nd ed., Dublin: The Liffey Press, 2008, pp. 168–169 It is carved into the rock of a stone lozenge near the main entrance of the prehistoric Newgrange monument in what is now County Meath, Ireland. It also appears on a 1st-century BCE dolmen tomb in Rathkenny in County Meath.{{cite journal |last1=Raftery |first1=Joseph |title=Early Iron Age Decoration on the Dolmen at Rathkenny, Co. Meath |journal=Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society |year=1939 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=258–261 |doi=10.2307/27728510 |jstor=27728510 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27728510|url-access=subscription }}

There is also an example of a triskele on a stone fragment discovered in Gloucestershire, England, that, as of 2023, is held by the British Museum and thought to date from between the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age.{{Cite web |title=artefact {{!}} British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1939-0602-1 |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=The British Museum |language=en}}

The triskelion was a motif in the art of the Iron Age Celtic La Tène culture.

=Classical Antiquity=

File:001-syracuse-Triskeles.jpg (361–289 BCE), Greek tyrant of Syracuse (317–289 BCE) and king of Sicily (304–289 BCE). Inscription: {{lang|grc|ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ}} ({{Transliteration|grc|Syrakosion}}) Laureate head of the youthful Ares to left; behind, Palladion. Reverse: Triskeles of three human legs with winged feet; at the center, Gorgoneion]]

The triskeles proper, composed of three human legs, is younger than the triple spiral found in decorations on Greek pottery, especially as a design shown on Hoplite shields and later Greek and Anatolian coinage. An early example is found on the Shield of Achilles in an Attic hydria of the late-6th century BCE.Boston Museum of Fine Arts, illustrated in John Boardman, Jasper Griffin and Oswyn Murray, Greece and the Hellenistic World (Oxford History of the Classical World) vol. I (1988), p. 50.

It is found on coinage in Lycia and on staters of Pamphylia (at Aspendos in 370–333 BCE) and Pisidia. The meaning of the Greek triskeles is not recorded directly. The Duke of Luynes, in his 1835 study, noted the co-occurrence of the symbol with the eagle, the cockerel, the head of Medusa, Perseus, three crescent moons, three ears of corn, and three grains of corn.{{Citation needed|reason=Modern corn didn't exist in Ancient Greece.|date=October 2021}} From this, he reconstructed a feminine divine triad that he identified with the triple goddess Hecate.{{Cite web |last=azim24 |date=2021-06-19 |title=Study : Other Religious Symbols in Islamic Art and Architecture Part 3 : The Triskelion |url=https://starsinsymmetry.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/study-other-religious-symbols-in-islamic-art-and-architecture-part-3-the-triskelion/ |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=Stars in Symmetry |language=en}}

The triskeles was adopted as emblem by the rulers of Syracuse. It is possible that this usage is related with the Greek name of the island of Sicily, {{lang|grc|Τρινακρία}} ({{Transliteration|grc|Trinacria}}) {{gloss|having three headlands}}.Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon (A Lexicon Abridged from), Oxford, 1944, p.27, Cassell's Latin Dictionary, Marchant, J.R.V, & Charles, Joseph F., (Eds.), Revised Edition, 1928 The Sicilian triskeles is shown with the head of Medusa at the center.Matthews, Jeff (2005) [http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/symbols.htm Symbols of Naples] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030202145/http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/symbols.htm |date=2009-10-30 }} The ancient symbol has been re-introduced in modern flags of Sicily since 1848. The oldest find of a triskeles in Sicily is a vase dated to the late-7th century BCE of which researchers speculated a Minoan-Mycenaean origin (and for which no proof has been given).{{Cite web|title=Trinacria: meaning and history of the Sicilian Triskele|date=12 January 2022 |url=https://www.giuseppegallo.design/design-and-communication/meaning-and-history-of-the-sicilian-triskele/}}

=Roman period and Late Antiquity=

Late examples of the triple spiral symbols are found in Iron Age Europe, carved in rock in Castro Culture settlements in Galicia, Asturias, and Northern Portugal. The symbol took on new meaning to Irish Celtic Christians before the 5th century CE as a symbol of the Trinity.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

File:2009-03-22 03-29 Sizilien 683 Agrigent, Parco Valle dei Templi Agrigento, Museo Archaeologico.jpg|Triskelion of Sicily on vase of the late 7th century BCE

File:Ancient greek beaked jug decorated with triple spirals.jpg|Late Helladic (14th century BCE) beaked jug decorated with triple spirals

File:6257 - Archaeological Museum, Athens - Gold cup from Mycenae - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 10 2009.jpg|Gold cup from Mycenae decorated with triskelions

File:Trisquel da Aira Vella, Santo Estevo de Allariz, Allariz.jpg|Iron Age Castro culture triskele, reused in a barn. Airavella, Allariz, Galicia, Spain

File:Torque de Santa Tegra 1.JPG|Triskelion and spirals on a Galician torc terminal.

Medieval use

The triple spiral design is found as a decorative element in Gothic architecture. The three legs (triskeles) symbol is rarely found as a charge in late medieval heraldry, notably as the arms of the King of Mann (Armorial Wijnbergen, {{circa|1280}}), and as canting arms in the city seal of the Bavarian city of Füssen (dated 1317).

File:Triskel-triskele-triquetre-triscel VAN DEN HENDE ALAIN CC-BY-SA-40 0718 PDP BG 007.jpg|Triskèle Saint-Marcellin (in Isère / France)

File:Triskel_et_Biskel_-_Saint_Antoine_l_Abbaye_-_Alain_Van_den_Hende_17071627_Licence_CC40.jpg|On the front of Abbatial church of Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye with 2 groups of 2 triskelions and 1 biskel (in Isère / France)

File:Triskele karja church.jpg|Mural depicting a triskelion on the ceiling of Karja church in Saaremaa, Estonia

File:TremayneArms.PNG|Tremayne family triskelion arms

Modern usage

The town of Dukla in Poland has used three hunting bugles arranged in triskelion shape as its symbol since the 16th century.{{cite book |last1=Gumowski |first1=Marian |title=Herby miast polskich |date=1960 |publisher=Arkady |location=Warsaw |page=164}}{{cite book |last1=Plewako |first1=Andrzej |last2=Wanag |first2=Józef |title=Herbarz Miast Polskich |date=1994 |publisher=Arkady |location=Warsaw |isbn=9788321335681 |page=44}}

The triskeles was included in the design of the Army Gold Medal awarded to British Army majors and above who had taken a key part in the Battle of Maida (1806).Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry (1889), [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofhera00elvi/page/126/ p. 126].

An early flag of Sicily, proposed in 1848, included the Sicilian triskeles or "Trinacria symbol". Later versions of Sicilian flags have retained the emblem, including the one officially adopted in 2000. The flag of the Isle of Man (1932) shows a heraldic design of a triskeles of three armoured legs.

The flag and coat of arms of the Bavarian town of Füssen, Germany, contain a triskele,{{cite book |last1=Shoham |first1=Schlomo Giora |title=An Existentialist Theory of the Human Spirit (Volume 1) |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |page=460}}{{cite book |last1=Chwalkowski |first1=Farrin |title=Symbols in Arts, Religion and Culture The Soul of Nature |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge Scholarly Publishing |page=105}} as does the flag of the Russian autonomous region of Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug.{{cite book |last1=Rogerson |first1=Barnaby |title=Rogerson's Book of Numbers The Culture of Numbers from 1001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World |date=2013 |publisher=Profile Books |page=253}}

In the Republic of Ireland the triskelion is displayed in hospitals and care centres to indicate that a patient is dying or has died.{{Cite web |last=Hiliard |first=Carol |date=2023-09-13 |title=End of Life Care Committee |url=https://media.childrenshealthireland.ie/documents/End-of-Life-Symbol.pdf |access-date=2023-09-13 |website=Children's Health Ireland}}{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Hospice |date=2023-09-13 |title=End of Life Care Resources |url=https://hospicefoundation.ie/our-supports-services/healthcare-hub/hospice-friendly-hospitals/end-of-life-care-resources/ |access-date=2023-09-13 |website=Irish Hospice Foundation}} It is based on the historical use of the triskele in Celtic Ireland and it is used as an alternative to religious imagery. In this context, the three spirals represent the cycle of birth, life and death.

The spiral is used by some polytheistic reconstructionist or neopagan groups. As a "Celtic symbol", it is used primarily by groups with a Celtic cultural orientation and, less frequently, can also be found in use by various eclectic or syncretic traditions such as Neopaganism. The spiral triskele is one of the primary symbols of Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism, used to represent a variety of triplicities in cosmology and theology; it is also a favoured symbol due to its association with Manannán mac Lir, a sea god within Irish mythology.Bonewits, Isaac (2006) Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism. New York, Kensington Publishing Group {{ISBN|0-8065-2710-2}}. p. 132: [Among Celtic Reconstructionists] "...{{lang|gd|An Thríbhís Mhòr}} (the great triple spiral) came into common use to refer to the three realms." Also p. 134: [On CRs] "Using Celtic symbols such as triskeles and spirals"

Other uses of triskelion-like emblems include the logo for the Trisquel Linux distribution and the seal of the United States Department of Transportation.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nCFYdB2H05UC&q=United+States+Department+of+Transportation+triskelion&pg=PA144|title=Air Transportation|first=Robert M.|last=Kane|date=1 January 2019|publisher=Kendall Hunt|isbn=9780787288815|via=Google Books}}

In the 1960s television programme Star Trek, members of the crew are forced to fight to the death on a triskelion playing surface in the episode The Gamesters of Triskelion.

A specific version of the triskele comprising three sevens has been adopted by neo-Nazis. In South Africa the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), an Afrikaner nationalist, neo-Nazi organisation and political party (founded 1973), uses it as its symbol in place of a swastika.{{cite book |title=Vikings and the Vikings Essays on Television's History Channel Series |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland |page=216}} The Blood & Honour neo-Nazi group also uses it.{{cite book |title=Right-wing extremism: Symbols, signs and banned organisations |publisher=Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution |page=30 |url=https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/publikationen/EN/right-wing-extremism/2022-07-right-wing-extremism-symbols-and-organisations.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=12}} The 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck's shoulder strap cipher was a triskele (though not involving sevens).{{cite book |title=Right-wing extremism: Symbols, signs and banned organisations |publisher=Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution |page=83 |url=https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/publikationen/EN/right-wing-extremism/2022-07-right-wing-extremism-symbols-and-organisations.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=12}} Use of the triskele can be a prosecutable offence under German law, depending on the context in which it is used.

Stylised versions of the Triskelion are commonly used as a symbol for BDSM.

POL Dukla COA.svg|Coat of arms of Dukla

File:Flag of the Isle of Mann.svg|Flag of the Isle of Man

File:Flag of Sicily.svg|Flag of Sicily, with the triskeles-and-Gorgoneion symbol

File:Flag of Sărata-Galbenă.gif|Flag of Sărata-Galbenă

File:Flag of Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug.svg|Flag of Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug

File:Flag of Ingushetia.svg|Flag of Ingushetia

File:27. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division „Langemarck“ (1. flämische).svg|Emblem of the 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck

File:Flag of the Afrikaner-Weerstandsbeweging.svg|Flag of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging

File:Logo-Trisquel.svg|Logo of Trisquel GNU/Linux

File:End-of-Life symbol Ireland.jpg|The triskelion is used as an end-of-life symbol in the Irish healthcare system.

Occurrence in nature

The boric acid and triethylborane molecules are triskelion-shaped as seen in the images. The molecular point group of triskelion-shaped molecules is C_3h.{{Greenwood&Earnshaw2nd|page=1291}}{{Housecroft3rd|pages=94–99}} The endocytic protein, clathrin, is triskelion-shaped, as well as the Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/potm/2007_4/Page1.htm|title = InterPro}}