"Circled cross" redirects here. For the Christian symbol, see
ringed cross.
A sun cross, solar cross, or wheel cross is a
solar symbol consisting of an equilateral
cross inside a
circle.
The design is frequently found in the symbolism of prehistoric cultures, particularly during the
Neolithic to
Bronze Age periods of European prehistory. The symbol's ubiquity and apparent importance in
prehistoric religion have given rise to its interpretation as a solar symbol, whence the modern English term "sun cross" (a
calque of
German: Sonnenkreuz). The symbol means village in Ancient Egyptian (
Gardiner symbol O49).
The interpretation of the simple equilateral cross as a solar symbol in Bronze Age religion was widespread in 19th-century scholarship. The cross-in-a-circle was interpreted as a solar symbol derived from the interpretation of the disc of the Sun as the wheel of the
chariot of the
Sun god.[2]
Wieseler (1881) postulated an (unattested)
Gothic runehvel ("wheel") representing the solar deity by the "wheel" symbol of a cross-in-a-circle, reflected by the
Gothic letterhwair (𐍈).[3]
The English term "Sun-Cross", on the other hand, is comparatively recent, apparently loaned from German Sonnenkreuz and used in the 1955 translation of
Rudolf Koch's Book of Signs ("The Sun-Cross or Cross of
Wotan", p. 94).
The German term Sonnenkreuz was used in 19th-century scholarly literature of any cross symbol interpreted as a solar symbol, an equilateral cross either with or without a circle, or an oblique cross (
saltire). Sonnenkreuz was used of the flag design of the
Paneuropean Union in the 1920s.[4] In the 1930s, a version of the symbol with broken arms (resembling a curved
swastika, illustrated below) was popular as a link between Christianity and Germanic paganism in the völkischGerman Faith Movement.[5]
Archaeological record
Bronze Age
In the
prehistoric religion of
Bronze Age Europe, crosses in circles appear frequently on artifacts identified as cult items, for example the "miniature standard" with an
amber inlay that shows a cross shape when held against the light, dating to the
Nordic Bronze Age, held at the
National Museum of Denmark,
Copenhagen.[6] The Bronze Age symbol has also been connected with the
four-spokedchariotwheel, which is attested in Bronze Age Scandinavia, Central Europe and Greece (compare the
Linear B ideogram 243 "wheel" 𐃏). In the context of a culture that celebrated the
sun chariot, it may thus have had a "solar" connotation (compare the
Trundholm sun chariot).
Ornamental pins, found in
Switzerland, date to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC; their circular heads are incised with crosses
Wheel pendants dating to the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, found in
Zürich. Variants include a six-spoked wheel, a central empty circle, and a second circle with twelve spokes surrounding one of four spokes.
A sun disk found in tombs in
Alacahöyük dates back to the early
Bronze Age. Notice the three sun crosses on the sun disk.
The same symbol represents the Earth in
astronomical symbols, while the
Sun is represented by a circle with a center point.
Commerce
The
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad emblem was a cross in a circle with the words "Santa Fe" across the horizontal bar. In this case, the lines making up the cross were much wider than the circle.
Ethnography
The Sacred Hoop aka
Medicine Wheel is a similar symbol in widespread use by
Native Americans including
Plains Indians and previously by
Hopewell cultures. Other indigenous peoples also use or used the solar cross on their symbolism and as decoration practices.[citation needed]
A square cross interlocking with or surrounded by a circle is one of the most popular symbols used by individuals and organisations to represent
white nationalism, white supremacy,
Neo-Nazism, and white pride.[1] In its
Celtic cross form, it is used as the logo for white nationalist website
Stormfront.[1] This stems from the use of a circled cross by Norwegian Nazis during World War II.[citation needed] In New Zealand, the Odin's cross was one of the symbols used by on Brenton Tarrant in the
Christchurch mosque shootings.[citation needed]
In Germany, a "stylized" circled cross was adopted by a prohibited political party (VSBD/PdA), leading to a ban of the symbol if used within a context of promoting racism (see Strafgesetzbuch section 86a). Although there were doubts on the constitutionality of the ban, it was upheld in a decision of the supreme court.[8]
In Italy, there is a similar ban based on Legge Mancino (the "
Mancino Law", from the Minister of Interior who enacted the law),[9] although there are some examples of the use of the circled cross as a Roman Catholic symbol in Northern Italy.[citation needed]
Tools
A similar glyph is used in tool sets to denote
Phillips-head screws and screwdrivers.
Unicode
There is no formal
code point in
Unicode for this symbol, though other symbols representing the sun are included. Symbols designed for other purposes, such as U+1F728🜨ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR VERDIGRIS, U+2295⊕CIRCLED PLUS and U+2A01⨁N-ARY CIRCLED PLUS OPERATOR, and U+2316⌖POSITION INDICATOR are similar.
^Martin Persson Nilsson (1950). The Minoan–Mycenaean Religion and its Survival in Greek Religion. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 421. there is a wide-spread opinion that the equal-limbed cross is another symbol of the sun. It was, for example, a favorite theory of the late
Professor Montelius, and has been embraced by many other archaeologists; its wide acceptance is due to an interest in finding a pre-Christian origin of the symbol of Christianity. The disc of the sun was regarded as a wheel; hence the myth that the sun-god drives in a chariot across the heavens.
^Karl Georg Wieseler (1813–83), Untersuchungen Zur Geschichte Und Religion Der Alten Germanen in Asien und Europa, 1881,
p. 157.
The suggestion of a specifically Gothic variant of the runic alphabet partially preserved in the Gothic alphabet is due to
Jacob Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie (1835).
^Richard Nicolaus Graf von Coudenhove-Kalergi, Kampf um Paneuropa aus dem 1. Jahrgang von Paneuropa, Paneuropa Verlag, 1925, p. 36.
"Circled cross" redirects here. For the Christian symbol, see
ringed cross.
A sun cross, solar cross, or wheel cross is a
solar symbol consisting of an equilateral
cross inside a
circle.
The design is frequently found in the symbolism of prehistoric cultures, particularly during the
Neolithic to
Bronze Age periods of European prehistory. The symbol's ubiquity and apparent importance in
prehistoric religion have given rise to its interpretation as a solar symbol, whence the modern English term "sun cross" (a
calque of
German: Sonnenkreuz). The symbol means village in Ancient Egyptian (
Gardiner symbol O49).
The interpretation of the simple equilateral cross as a solar symbol in Bronze Age religion was widespread in 19th-century scholarship. The cross-in-a-circle was interpreted as a solar symbol derived from the interpretation of the disc of the Sun as the wheel of the
chariot of the
Sun god.[2]
Wieseler (1881) postulated an (unattested)
Gothic runehvel ("wheel") representing the solar deity by the "wheel" symbol of a cross-in-a-circle, reflected by the
Gothic letterhwair (𐍈).[3]
The English term "Sun-Cross", on the other hand, is comparatively recent, apparently loaned from German Sonnenkreuz and used in the 1955 translation of
Rudolf Koch's Book of Signs ("The Sun-Cross or Cross of
Wotan", p. 94).
The German term Sonnenkreuz was used in 19th-century scholarly literature of any cross symbol interpreted as a solar symbol, an equilateral cross either with or without a circle, or an oblique cross (
saltire). Sonnenkreuz was used of the flag design of the
Paneuropean Union in the 1920s.[4] In the 1930s, a version of the symbol with broken arms (resembling a curved
swastika, illustrated below) was popular as a link between Christianity and Germanic paganism in the völkischGerman Faith Movement.[5]
Archaeological record
Bronze Age
In the
prehistoric religion of
Bronze Age Europe, crosses in circles appear frequently on artifacts identified as cult items, for example the "miniature standard" with an
amber inlay that shows a cross shape when held against the light, dating to the
Nordic Bronze Age, held at the
National Museum of Denmark,
Copenhagen.[6] The Bronze Age symbol has also been connected with the
four-spokedchariotwheel, which is attested in Bronze Age Scandinavia, Central Europe and Greece (compare the
Linear B ideogram 243 "wheel" 𐃏). In the context of a culture that celebrated the
sun chariot, it may thus have had a "solar" connotation (compare the
Trundholm sun chariot).
Ornamental pins, found in
Switzerland, date to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC; their circular heads are incised with crosses
Wheel pendants dating to the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, found in
Zürich. Variants include a six-spoked wheel, a central empty circle, and a second circle with twelve spokes surrounding one of four spokes.
A sun disk found in tombs in
Alacahöyük dates back to the early
Bronze Age. Notice the three sun crosses on the sun disk.
The same symbol represents the Earth in
astronomical symbols, while the
Sun is represented by a circle with a center point.
Commerce
The
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad emblem was a cross in a circle with the words "Santa Fe" across the horizontal bar. In this case, the lines making up the cross were much wider than the circle.
Ethnography
The Sacred Hoop aka
Medicine Wheel is a similar symbol in widespread use by
Native Americans including
Plains Indians and previously by
Hopewell cultures. Other indigenous peoples also use or used the solar cross on their symbolism and as decoration practices.[citation needed]
A square cross interlocking with or surrounded by a circle is one of the most popular symbols used by individuals and organisations to represent
white nationalism, white supremacy,
Neo-Nazism, and white pride.[1] In its
Celtic cross form, it is used as the logo for white nationalist website
Stormfront.[1] This stems from the use of a circled cross by Norwegian Nazis during World War II.[citation needed] In New Zealand, the Odin's cross was one of the symbols used by on Brenton Tarrant in the
Christchurch mosque shootings.[citation needed]
In Germany, a "stylized" circled cross was adopted by a prohibited political party (VSBD/PdA), leading to a ban of the symbol if used within a context of promoting racism (see Strafgesetzbuch section 86a). Although there were doubts on the constitutionality of the ban, it was upheld in a decision of the supreme court.[8]
In Italy, there is a similar ban based on Legge Mancino (the "
Mancino Law", from the Minister of Interior who enacted the law),[9] although there are some examples of the use of the circled cross as a Roman Catholic symbol in Northern Italy.[citation needed]
Tools
A similar glyph is used in tool sets to denote
Phillips-head screws and screwdrivers.
Unicode
There is no formal
code point in
Unicode for this symbol, though other symbols representing the sun are included. Symbols designed for other purposes, such as U+1F728🜨ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR VERDIGRIS, U+2295⊕CIRCLED PLUS and U+2A01⨁N-ARY CIRCLED PLUS OPERATOR, and U+2316⌖POSITION INDICATOR are similar.
^Martin Persson Nilsson (1950). The Minoan–Mycenaean Religion and its Survival in Greek Religion. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 421. there is a wide-spread opinion that the equal-limbed cross is another symbol of the sun. It was, for example, a favorite theory of the late
Professor Montelius, and has been embraced by many other archaeologists; its wide acceptance is due to an interest in finding a pre-Christian origin of the symbol of Christianity. The disc of the sun was regarded as a wheel; hence the myth that the sun-god drives in a chariot across the heavens.
^Karl Georg Wieseler (1813–83), Untersuchungen Zur Geschichte Und Religion Der Alten Germanen in Asien und Europa, 1881,
p. 157.
The suggestion of a specifically Gothic variant of the runic alphabet partially preserved in the Gothic alphabet is due to
Jacob Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie (1835).
^Richard Nicolaus Graf von Coudenhove-Kalergi, Kampf um Paneuropa aus dem 1. Jahrgang von Paneuropa, Paneuropa Verlag, 1925, p. 36.