TheCeltic cross is a form ofringed cross, aChristian cross featuring animbus or ring, that emerged inIreland andBritain in theEarly Middle Ages.[1][2][3] It became widespread through its use in thehigh crosses erected across Ireland, Britain and parts of France, especially in regions evangelised byIrish missionaries, from the 9th through the 12th centuries.
A staple ofInsular art, the Celtic cross is essentially aLatin cross with a nimbus surrounding the intersection of the arms and stem. Scholars have debated its exact origins, but it is related to earlier crosses featuring rings. The form gained new popularity during theCeltic Revival of the 19th century; the name "Celtic cross" is a convention dating from that time. The shape, usually decorated withinterlace and other motifs from Insular art, became popular for funerary monuments and other uses, and has remained so, spreading well beyond Ireland.
Ringed crosses similar to older Continental forms appeared in Ireland, England and Scotland in incised stone slab artwork and artifacts like theArdagh chalice. However, the shape achieved its greatest popularity by its use in the monumental stonehigh crosses, a distinctive and widespread form ofInsular art.[4] These monuments, which first appeared in the ninth century, usually (though not always) take the form of a ringed cross on a stepped or pyramidal base.[5] The form has obvious structural advantages, reducing the length of unsupported side arms.[6] There are a number of theories as to its origin in Ireland and Britain. Some scholars consider the ring a holdover from earlier wooden crosses, which may have required struts to support the crossarm. Others have seen it as deriving from indigenous Bronze Age art featuring a wheel or disc around a head, or from earlyCoptic crosses based on theankh. However, Michael W. Herren, Shirley Ann Brown, and others believe it originates in earlier ringed crosses inChristian art. Crosses with a ring representing thecelestial sphere developed from the writings of theChurch Fathers. The "cosmological cross" is an important motif inCoelius Sedulius's poemCarmen Paschale, known in Ireland by the seventh century.[7]
It is not clear where the first high crosses originated. The first examples date to about the ninth century and occur in two groups: atAhenny in Ireland, and atIona, an Irish monastery off the Scottish coast. The Ahenny group is generally earlier. However, it is possible that St. Johns Cross at Iona was the first high cross; Iona's influence as a center of pilgrimage may have led this cross to inspire the Ahenny group as well as other ringed crosses inPictish stones.[6]
A variety of crosses bear inscriptions inogham, an early medieval Irish alphabet. Standing crosses in Ireland and areas under Irish influence tend to be shorter and more massive than their Anglo-Saxon equivalents, which have mostly lost their headpieces. Irish examples with a head in cross form include the Cross ofKells,Ardboe High Cross, the crosses atMonasterboice, the Cross of the Scriptures,Clonmacnoise and those in Scotland atIona and theKildalton Cross, which may be the earliest to survive in good condition. Surviving, free-standing crosses are inCornwall, includingSt Piran's cross atPerranporth, and Wales.[8][page needed] Other stone crosses are found in the formerNorthumbria and Scotland, and further south in England, where they merge with the similar Anglo-Saxon cross making tradition, in theRuthwell Cross for example. Most examples in Britain were destroyed during the ProtestantReformation. By about A.D. 1200 the initial wave of cross building came to an end in Ireland.
Popular legend in Ireland says that the Christian cross was introduced bySaint Patrick or possiblySaint Declan, though there are no examples from this early period. It has often been claimed that Patrick combined the symbol of Christianity with thesun cross to give pagan followers an idea of the importance of the cross. By linking it with the idea of the life-giving properties of the sun, these two ideas were linked to appeal to pagans. Other interpretations claim that placing the cross on top of the circle represents Christ's supremacy over the pagan sun.
![Ansgars Cross [sv] (to Ansgar), Birka, Sweden](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAnsgars_kors.jpg)
TheCeltic Revival of the mid-19th century led to an increased use and creation of Celtic crosses in Ireland. In 1853, casts of several historical high crosses were exhibited at the Dublin Industrial Exhibition. In 1857,Henry O'Neill publishedIllustrations of the Most Interesting of the Sculptured Crosses of Ancient Ireland. These two events stimulated interest in the Celtic cross as a symbol for a renewed sense of heritage within Ireland.
New versions of the high cross were designed for fashionable cemetery monuments in Victorian Dublin in the 1860s. From Dublin, the revival spread to the rest of the country and beyond. Since the Celtic Revival, the ringed cross became an emblem of Celtic identity, in addition to its more traditional religious symbolism.[9]
Modern interest in the symbol increased because ofAlexander and Euphemia Ritchie. The two worked on the island ofIona in Scotland from 1899 to 1940 and popularised use of the Celtic cross in jewelry.[10]Since its revival in the 1850s, the Celtic cross has been used extensively as grave markers, straying from medieval usage, when the symbol was typically used for a public monument. The Celtic cross now appears in various retail items. Both theGaelic Athletic Association and theNorthern Ireland national football team have used versions of the Celtic cross in their logos and advertising. TheChurch in Wales since 1954 have used a flag with a Celtic cross in the centre.[citation needed]
![Flag of Irish Heritage Quebec[11]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_Irish_Heritage_Quebec.svg)
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![Flag of the 31st International Eucharistic Congress (1932)[12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aFlag_of_the_International_Eucharistic_Congress_(1932).svg)
![Proposed flag of Ireland (1951)[13]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aProposed_flag_of_Ireland_(1951).svg)
![Proposed flag of Cumbria (2025)[14]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aProposed_flag_of_Cumbria_(2025)_-_Design_E.svg)
A version of the Celtic cross is used as a symbol bywhite supremacists.[15] It was used byNazis in Norway in the 1930s and 1940s; more recently, it has been used byneo-Nazis,Klansmen, and other white supremacist groups. In general, white supremacists use a version of the symbol with a square cross as opposed to the traditional elongated cross. This symbol forms part of the logo ofStormfront.[16]
It is suggested that adoption of the symbol in the context of right-wing politics is linked with the activity of Jesuit priestPaul Doncœur [fr], a prominent figure of the interwarscout movement in France.[17][18] In 1924, the victory of anti-clericalCartel des Gauches in general elections caused the mobilisation of right-wing forces, with Doncœur playing a major role in formation ofFédération Nationale Catholique[19] andLigue DRAC [fr].[20] The same year, impressed byQuickborn [de], a Catholic organisation within theGerman Youth Movement, he founded its local equivalent, Cadets.[21][22] Doncœur, inspired by theG. K. Chesterton's novelThe Ball and the Cross, decided that the symbol of the movement,croix cadet, should consist of a circle, representing the material world, supported by a square Christian cross intersecting it.[23][24][25]
After theFall of France,Vichy government relied on pre-existing organisations to implement its youth policy according to the principles of theNational Revolution. The field was dominated by Catholic scout movements, the leaders of which were put in charge of Secretariat-General of Youth.[17][26][27][28][29] In 1941, the symbol of Doncœur, now namedcroix celtique, was adopted as an emblem for Cadets of the Légion inAlgeria, a youth movement withinLégion Française des Combattants,[18][30] a veteran organisation which the government hoped could be transformed to function as thesingle party of the state.[27][31] Then it was used as insignia of Equipes nationales, a youthcivilian service institution founded in 1942.[18][21][26] After the war,Pierre Sidos appropriated the symbol as an emblem of the far-right movementJeune Nation, founded by him in 1949.[32]
White supremacist use of the long and short Celtic cross represents only a small minority of the symbol's use.[16] The symbol in both forms is used by non-extremists in contexts such as Christianity, neo-Paganism,[15] and Irish patriotism. Furthermore, according to the AmericanAnti-Defamation League, the cross itself does not denotewhite supremacy.[16]
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Thecode point for this symbol inUnicode isU+1F548 🕈CELTIC CROSS.
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