This article needs additional citations for
verification. (November 2016) |
π¨ β β· π | |
---|---|
Earth symbol | |
In Unicode | U+1F728 🜨 ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR VERDIGRIS U+2641 ♁ EARTH ( Globus cruciger) U+2637 ☷ TRIGRAM FOR EARTH U+1F703 🜃 ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR EARTH |
Different from | |
Different from | U+23DA ⏚ EARTH GROUND Electrical earth (ground) |
A variety of
symbols or iconographic conventions are used to represent
Earth, whether in the sense of
planet Earth, or the
inhabited world, or as a
classical element. A circle representing the round world, with the rivers of
Garden of Eden separating the
four corners of the world, or rotated 45Β° to suggest the
four continents, remains a common pictographic convention to express the notion of "worldwide". The current
astronomical symbols for the planet are a circle with an intersecting cross,
,
[1] and a
globus cruciger,
. Although the
International Astronomical Union (IAU) now discourages the use of
planetary symbols, this is an exception, being used in abbreviations such as Mπ¨ or Mβ for
Earth mass.
[2]
The earliest type of symbols are allegories, personifications or deifications, mostly in the form of an Earth goddess (in the case of Egyptian mythology a god, Geb). [3]
Before the recognition of the spherical shape of the Earth in the Hellenistic period, the main attribute of the Earth was its being flat. [4] [5] The Egyptian hieroglyph for "earth, land" depicts a stretch of flat alluvial land with grains of sand ( Gardiner N16: πΎ). The Sumerian cuneiform sign for "earth, place" KI (π ) originates as a picture of a "threshing floor", and the Chinese character (ε) originated as a lump of clay on a potting wheel.
In Chinese mysticism, the classical element "Earth" is represented by the trigram of three broken lines in the I Ching (β·). [6]
The Western (early modern) alchemical symbol for earth is a downward-pointing triangle bisected by a horizontal line (π). [7] Other symbols for the earth in alchemy or mysticism include the square and the serpent. [8]
In the Roman period, the globe, a representation of the spherical Earth, became the main symbol representing the concept. The globe depicted the "universe" (pictured as the celestial sphere) as well as the Earth. [9]
The globus cruciger (β) is the globe surmounted by a Christian cross, held by Byzantine Emperors on the one hand to represent the Christian ecumene, on the other hand the akakia represented the mortal nature of all men.
In the medieval period, the
known world was also represented by the
T-and-O figure, representing an extremely simplified
world map of the three classical continents of the
Old World, viz.
Asia,
Europe and
Africa (in various orientations:
,
,
,
).
Unicode encodes four characters representing the globe in the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block:
This article needs additional citations for
verification. (November 2016) |
π¨ β β· π | |
---|---|
Earth symbol | |
In Unicode | U+1F728 🜨 ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR VERDIGRIS U+2641 ♁ EARTH ( Globus cruciger) U+2637 ☷ TRIGRAM FOR EARTH U+1F703 🜃 ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR EARTH |
Different from | |
Different from | U+23DA ⏚ EARTH GROUND Electrical earth (ground) |
A variety of
symbols or iconographic conventions are used to represent
Earth, whether in the sense of
planet Earth, or the
inhabited world, or as a
classical element. A circle representing the round world, with the rivers of
Garden of Eden separating the
four corners of the world, or rotated 45Β° to suggest the
four continents, remains a common pictographic convention to express the notion of "worldwide". The current
astronomical symbols for the planet are a circle with an intersecting cross,
,
[1] and a
globus cruciger,
. Although the
International Astronomical Union (IAU) now discourages the use of
planetary symbols, this is an exception, being used in abbreviations such as Mπ¨ or Mβ for
Earth mass.
[2]
The earliest type of symbols are allegories, personifications or deifications, mostly in the form of an Earth goddess (in the case of Egyptian mythology a god, Geb). [3]
Before the recognition of the spherical shape of the Earth in the Hellenistic period, the main attribute of the Earth was its being flat. [4] [5] The Egyptian hieroglyph for "earth, land" depicts a stretch of flat alluvial land with grains of sand ( Gardiner N16: πΎ). The Sumerian cuneiform sign for "earth, place" KI (π ) originates as a picture of a "threshing floor", and the Chinese character (ε) originated as a lump of clay on a potting wheel.
In Chinese mysticism, the classical element "Earth" is represented by the trigram of three broken lines in the I Ching (β·). [6]
The Western (early modern) alchemical symbol for earth is a downward-pointing triangle bisected by a horizontal line (π). [7] Other symbols for the earth in alchemy or mysticism include the square and the serpent. [8]
In the Roman period, the globe, a representation of the spherical Earth, became the main symbol representing the concept. The globe depicted the "universe" (pictured as the celestial sphere) as well as the Earth. [9]
The globus cruciger (β) is the globe surmounted by a Christian cross, held by Byzantine Emperors on the one hand to represent the Christian ecumene, on the other hand the akakia represented the mortal nature of all men.
In the medieval period, the
known world was also represented by the
T-and-O figure, representing an extremely simplified
world map of the three classical continents of the
Old World, viz.
Asia,
Europe and
Africa (in various orientations:
,
,
,
).
Unicode encodes four characters representing the globe in the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block: