View source for Celtic cross

{{Short description|Christian cross superimposed on a circle}}
{{distinguish |Ringed cross |Sun cross}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[file:CelticCross.svg|thumb|upright 0.75 |A Celtic cross symbol]]
The '''Celtic cross'''  is a form of [[ringed cross]], a [[Christian cross]] featuring a [[halo (religious iconography)|nimbus]] or ring, that emerged in [[Ireland]] and [[Great Britain|Britain]] in the [[Early Middle Ages]].<ref>Herren, Michael W.; Brown, Shirley Ann (2002). ''Christ in Celtic Christianity: Britain and Ireland from the Fifth to the Tenth Century''. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 978-1846150418. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/christ-in-celtic-christianity/D7B804D32117F1ECCA718AF8AADD4834]</ref><ref>Werner, Martin (1990). "On the Origin of the Form of the Irish High Cross". ''Gesta''. 29 (1): 98–111. doi:10.2307/767104. JSTOR 767104. [https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/767104]</ref><ref>"High Crosses". Heritage Ireland. Curated by Jenny Young, Donagh Mac Uidhir, Larry McDonagh, Adrian Kelly, Brian Crowley, Noreen Finnegan. [https://heritageireland.ie/articles/high-crosses/]. Accessed 17 September 2025.</ref> It became widespread through its use in the [[high cross]]es erected across Ireland, Britain and parts of France, especially in regions evangelised by [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|Irish missionaries]], from the 9th through the 12th centuries.

A staple of [[Insular art]], the Celtic cross is essentially a [[Latin 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 the [[Celtic Revival]] of the 19th century; the name "Celtic cross" is a convention dating from that time. The shape, usually decorated with [[Interlace (art)|interlace]] and other motifs from Insular art, became popular for funerary monuments and other uses, and has remained so, spreading well beyond Ireland.

== Early history ==
[[File:Celtic Art in Pagan and Christian Times, p185.png|thumb|Early forms: cross slab, St. Madoes, [[Perthshire]], Scotland|alt=]]
[[File:032Galarus Oratory.JPG|thumb|Early forms: pillar stone, [[Gallarus Oratory]], [[County Kerry]], Ireland]]

[[Ringed crosses]] similar to older Continental forms appeared in Ireland, England and Scotland in incised stone slab artwork and artifacts like the [[Ardagh chalice]]. However, the shape achieved its greatest popularity by its use in the monumental stone [[high cross]]es, a distinctive and widespread form of [[Insular art]].{{sfn|Herren|Brown|2002|pp=193–195}} 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.{{sfn|Herren|Brown|2002|p=199}} The form has obvious structural advantages, reducing the length of unsupported side arms.<ref name=Werner1990>{{cite journal |last1=Werner |first1=Martin |title=On the Origin of the Form of the Irish High Cross |journal=Gesta |date=1990 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=98–110 |doi=10.2307/767104 |jstor=767104 |s2cid=192024681 }}</ref> 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 early [[Coptic cross]]es based on the [[ankh]]. However, Michael W. Herren, Shirley Ann Brown, and others believe it originates in earlier ringed crosses in [[Christian art]]. Crosses with a ring representing the [[celestial sphere]] developed from the writings of the [[Church Fathers]]. The "cosmological cross" is an important motif in [[Coelius Sedulius]]'s poem ''[[Carmen Paschale]]'', known in Ireland by the seventh century.{{sfn|Herren|Brown|2002|pp=199–200}}

It is not clear where the first high crosses originated. The first examples date to about the ninth century and occur in two groups: at [[Ahenny]] in Ireland, and at [[Iona]], 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 in [[Pictish stone]]s.<ref name=Werner1990/>

A variety of crosses bear inscriptions in [[ogham]], 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 of [[Kells, County Meath|Kells]], [[Ardboe High Cross]], the crosses at [[Monasterboice]], the Cross of the Scriptures, [[Clonmacnoise]] and those in Scotland at [[Iona]] and the [[Kildalton Cross]], which may be the earliest to survive in good condition. Surviving, free-standing crosses are in [[Cornwall]], including [[St Piran]]'s cross at [[Perranporth]], and Wales.<ref>{{cite book |last=Langdon |first=Arthur G. |title=Old Cornish Crosses |date=1896 |publisher=J. Pollard |url=https://archive.org/details/oldcornishcrosses00lang |oclc=1008359745 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2020}} Other stone crosses are found in the former [[Northumbria]] and Scotland, and further south in England, where they merge with the similar Anglo-Saxon cross making tradition, in the [[Ruthwell Cross]] for example. Most examples in Britain were destroyed during the Protestant [[Reformation]]. 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 by [[Saint Patrick]] or possibly [[Declán of Ardmore|Saint 
Declan]], though there are no examples from this early period. It has often been claimed that Patrick combined the symbol of Christianity with the [[sun 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.

=== Notable high crosses with the Celtic shape in Ireland ===
* [[Ahenny]], County Tipperary
* [[Ardboe]] County Tyrone
* [[Carndonagh high cross]], County Donegal
* [[Drumcliff Monastery#The High Cross|Drumcliff]], County Sligo
* [[Dysert O'Dea Monastery]], County Clare
* [[Glendalough]] County Wicklow St. Kevin's Cross
* [[Killamery]], County Kilkenny
* Kloster Fahan [[Fahan]], County Donegal
* [[Monasterboice]], County Louth
* [[Clonmacnoise]] Cross of the Scriptures, County Offaly
* [[Moone]], County Kildare

=== Notable high crosses with the Celtic shape in Scotland ===
* Campbeltown Cross
* [[Iona Abbey]] Crosses
* Inchbraoch Cross
* [[Kildalton Cross]] 
* [[Massacre of Glencoe Monument]] 
* [[Meigle]] 1 Cross
* St. Martin's Cross at [[Iona Abbey]]
* St Gordian's Kirk Cross
* Govan Old Parish Church Cross
* Weem, Aberfeldy

=== Notable Celtic crosses in India ===
* [[Mateer Memorial Church]], Kerala, India

=== Celtic cross monument gallery ===
<gallery>
File:Lugasson Croix celtique 02.jpg|Croix celtique de [[Lugasson]], France
File:Clonmacnoise 6.jpg|Early crosses at [[Clonmacnoise]], Ireland
File:Kingswood War Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 7032.jpg|[[Kingswood, Surrey|Kingswood]] war memorial in [[Surrey]], England
File:Monasterboice 12.jpg|A [[high cross]] at [[Monasterboice]], Ireland
File:Dietkirchen Kriegsgraeber Iren.jpg|Modern Celtic cross of a war monument in [[Limburg an der Lahn|Limburg-Dietkirchen]], Germany
File:Perelachaise-croixCeltique-p1000394.jpg|Modern Celtic cross at [[Cimetière du Père-Lachaise]], Paris
File:Ansgars kors.jpg|{{ILL|Ansgars Cross|sv|Ansgarsmonumentet}} (to [[Ansgar]]), [[Birka]], Sweden
</gallery>

== Modern times ==
=== Celtic Revival ===
The [[Celtic 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 (illustrator)|Henry O'Neill]] published ''Illustrations 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.<ref>[http://www.celtarts.com/revival_crosses.htm Stephen Walker, "Celtic Revival Crosses"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001194230/http://celtarts.com/revival_crosses.htm |date=1 October 2016 }}, Celtic Arts website, accessed 22 November 2008</ref>

Modern interest in the symbol increased because of [[Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie]]. The two worked on the island of [[Iona]] in Scotland from 1899 to 1940 and popularised use of the Celtic cross in jewelry.<ref>[http://www.alexander-ritchie.co.uk/history.htm "A Brief History of the Ritchies"], Alexander Ritchie website, accessed 20 Nov 208</ref>
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 the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] and the [[Northern Ireland national football team]] have used versions of the Celtic cross in their logos and advertising. The [[Church in Wales]] since 1954 have used a flag with a Celtic cross in the centre.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==== Gallery ====
<gallery>
Church in Wales flag.svg|[[Flag of the Church in Wales]]
Flag of the Isle of Skye.svg|Flag of the [[Isle of Skye]]
Staining village flag.svg|Flag of [[Staining, Lancashire]]
Flag of Irish Heritage Quebec.svg|Flag of [[Irish Quebecers|Irish Heritage Quebec]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://flagchronicle.com/2025/01/07/irish-heritage-quebec-unveils-new-flag-design-at-annual-meeting/ |title=Irish Heritage Quebec Unveils New Flag Design at Annual Meeting |author=Christopher Eby |date=7 January 2025 |work=The Flag Chronicle |access-date=14 May 2025}}</ref>
Flag of Rathmines and Rathgar Urban District Council (1929–1930).svg|Flag of [[Rathmines and Rathgar]] Urban District Council (1929–1930)
Flag of the International Eucharistic Congress (1932).svg|Flag of the [[31st International Eucharistic Congress]] (1932)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eugeneoloughlin.com/2012/05/1932-eucharistic-congress-and-little.html?m=1 |title=The 1932 Eucharistic Congress, and a little bit of family history |author=Eugene O'Loughlin |date=27 May 2012 |work= |access-date=1 July 2025}}</ref>
Bleimor Scouting flag.svg|Flag of [[Bleimor (Scouting)|Bleimor]] (c.1946–1962)
Proposed flag of Ireland (1951).svg|Proposed flag of Ireland (1951)<ref>"[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2007633736120977 Drogheda Independent, 13 January 1951]". Retrieved 9 May 2025.</ref>
Proposed flag of Cumbria (2025) - Design E.svg|Proposed flag of [[Cumbria]] (2025)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hellorayo.co.uk/greatest-hits/cumbria/news/voting-open-cumbria-new-community-flag |title=Voting open to choose Cumbria's new community flag |author=Grace O'Hare |date=20 June 2025 |work=Rayo |access-date=10 September 2025}}</ref>
</gallery>

=== White supremacist symbolism ===
[[File:Celtic cross.svg|thumb|White nationalist Celtic cross]]
A version of the Celtic cross is used as a symbol by [[white supremacists]].<ref name="SPLC">{{cite web |title=A Look at Racist Skinhead Symbols and Tattoos |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2006/look-racist-skinhead-symbols-and-tattoos |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=19 October 2006 |language=en}}</ref> It was used by [[Nazis]] in Norway in the 1930s and 1940s; more recently, it has been used by [[neo-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 of [[Stormfront (website)|Stormfront]].<ref name="ADL">{{cite web |title=Celtic Cross |url=https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/celtic-cross |website=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=31 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

It is suggested that adoption of the symbol in the context of right-wing politics is linked with the activity of Jesuit priest {{Ill|Paul Doncœur|fr}}, a prominent figure of the interwar [[Scouting|scout movement]] in France.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Hellman |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xoQjbyDpVSYC |title=Knight-Monks of Vichy France: Uriage, 1940-1945 |date=1993 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-0973-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bouzard |first=Thierry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I1OpPQAACAAJ |title=La croix celtique |date=2006 |publisher=Pardès |isbn=978-2-86714-380-9 |language=fr}}</ref> In 1924, the victory of anti-clerical [[Cartel des Gauches]] in general elections caused the mobilisation of right-wing forces, with Doncœur playing a major role in formation of [[Fédération Nationale Catholique]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Long |first=Kathleen Perry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vp6YEAAAQBAJ |title=Religious Differences in France: Past and Present |date=2006-03-25 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-0-271-09083-2 |language=en}}</ref> and {{Ill|Ligue des droits du religieux ancien combattant|lt=Ligue DRAC|fr}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Colon |first=David |date=2008 |title=Les jésuites et la jeunesse catholique en France dans l'entre-deux-guerres |url=https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-01022357 |journal=Histoire@Politique: Revue du Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po |volume=4 |language=fr |issue=4 |page=7 |doi=10.3917/hp.004.0007|doi-access=free }}</ref> The same year, impressed by {{Ill|Quickborn-Arbeitskreis|lt=Quickborn|de}}, a Catholic organisation within the [[German Youth Movement]], he founded its local equivalent, Cadets.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Laneyrie |first=Philippe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2TaAAAAMAAJ |title=Les Scouts de France: l'évolution du mouvement des origines aux années quatre-vingt |date=1985 |publisher=Editions du Cerf |isbn=978-2-204-02318-4 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Avon |first=Dominique |date=1997 |title=Le pèlerinage du Puy, 12-15 août 1942 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rhef_0300-9505_1997_num_83_211_1288 |journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Église de France |volume=83 |issue=211 |pages=395–434 |doi=10.3406/rhef.1997.1288}}</ref> Doncœur, inspired by the [[G. K. Chesterton|G. K. Chesterton's]] novel ''[[The 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Doncoeur |first=Paul |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k33586378 |title=Cadets |date=1924 |publisher=l'Art catholique |location=Paris}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Avon |first=Dominique |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vVTZAAAAMAAJ |title=Paul Doncœur, s.j. (1880-1961): un croisé dans le siècle |date=2001 |publisher=Les Editions du Cerf |isbn=978-2-204-06562-7 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Avon |first=Dominique |date=1998 |title=Péguy, un maître du Père Doncoeur et de ses Cadets |url=https://hal.science/hal-03262746 |journal=L'Amitié Charles Péguy |series=Lectures poétiques et mystiques de l'øeuvre de Péguy |issue=84 |pages=211–228}}</ref>

After the [[Battle of France|Fall of France]], [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] relied on pre-existing organisations to implement its youth policy according to the principles of the [[Révolution nationale|National Revolution]]. The field was dominated by Catholic scout movements, the leaders of which were put in charge of Secretariat-General of Youth.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Raffin |first=Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8hy1pzrc0sC |title=Youth Mobilization in Vichy Indochina and Its Legacies, 1940 to 1970 |date=2005 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-1146-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |title=National regeneration in Vichy France: the appeals to renewal and sirens of decline. |url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/61493 |date=2007 |degree=PhD |first=Debbie |last=Lackerstein}}</ref> In 1941, the symbol of Doncœur, now named ''croix celtique'', was adopted as an emblem for Cadets of the Légion in [[French Algeria|Algeria]], a youth movement within [[Légion Française des Combattants]],<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5675149h |title=Cadet et cadettes de la Légion: mouvement de jeunesse d'action civique et sociale / Jeunesse légionnaire d'Algérie |publisher=Légion française des combattants Union provinciale (Algérie) |language=fr}}</ref> a veteran organisation which the government hoped could be transformed to function as the [[One-party state|single party]] of the state.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Julian |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/6328/chapter-abstract/150032272 |title=France: The Dark Years, 1940-1944 |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198207061 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cantier |first=Jacques |url=https://www.cairn.info/l-algerie-sous-le-regime-de-vichy--9782738110572-page-197.htm |title=L' Algérie sous le régime de Vichy |date=2002 |publisher=Odile Jacob |isbn=9782738110572 |language=fr}}</ref> Then it was used as insignia of Equipes nationales, a youth [[Alternative civilian service|civilian service]] institution founded in 1942.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Giolitto |first=Pierre |url=https://www.cairn.info/histoire-de-la-jeunesse-sous-vichy--9782262008000.htm |title=Histoire de la jeunesse sous Vichy |date=1991 |publisher=Perrin |isbn=978-2-262-00800-0 |location=Paris}}</ref> After the war, [[Pierre Sidos]] appropriated the symbol as an emblem of the far-right movement [[Jeune Nation]], founded by him in 1949.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-04-12 |title=Entretien: Pierre Sidos |url=https://revuecharles.fr/100-politique/pierre-sidos/ |access-date=2023-09-04 |website=Revue Charles |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

White supremacist use of the long and short Celtic cross represents only a small minority of the symbol's use.<ref name="ADL" /> The symbol in both forms is used by non-extremists in contexts such as Christianity, neo-Paganism,<ref name="SPLC" /> and Irish patriotism. Furthermore, according to the American [[Anti-Defamation League]], the cross itself does not denote [[white supremacy]].<ref name="ADL" />

==== Gallery ====
<gallery>
File:White Nationalism flag (black).svg|A Celtic cross flag used by white supremacists
File:Neo-Nazi celtic cross flag.svg|Neo-Nazi Celtic cross flag
File:White Pride World Wide - Stormfront hate symbol.svg|White Pride World Wide symbol, logo of [[Stormfront (website)|Stormfront]]
File:National-Anarchist star.svg|[[National-anarchism|National-anarchist]] star
</gallery>

=== Unicode ===
The [[code point]] for this symbol in [[Unicode]] is  {{unichar|1F548|CELTIC CROSS}}.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
{{div col}}
* {{Annotated link |Armenian eternity sign}}
* {{Annotated link |Basalt cross}}
* {{Annotated link |Borjgali|Georgian eternity sign}}
* {{Annotated link |Christian cross variants}}
* {{Annotated link |Conciliation cross}}
* {{Annotated link |Coptic cross}}
* {{Annotated link |Forked cross}}
* {{Annotated link |High cross}}
* {{Annotated link |Irminsul}}
* {{Annotated link |Maltese cross}}
* {{Annotated link |Maypole}}
* {{Annotated link |Picture stone}}
* {{Annotated link |Ringed cross}}
* {{Annotated link |Rood}}
* {{Annotated link |Shaft cross}}
* {{Annotated link |Solar symbol}}
* {{Annotated link |Stone cross}}
* {{Annotated link |Stone crosses in Cornwall}}
* {{Annotated link |Sun cross}}
* {{Annotated link |Swastika}}
{{div-col-end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* [[J. Romilly Allen]]: ''Early Christian Symbolism in Great Britain and Ireland Before the Thirteenth Century''. Whiting, London 1887. Neuauflage als ''The High Crosses of Ireland''. Felinfach: Llanerch 1992, {{ISBN|0-7661-9262-8}}.
* [[Peter Harbison]]: ''The High Crosses of Ireland''. Habelt, Bonn, 3 Baende, 1991.
* {{Cite book |last1=Herren |first1=Michael W. |last2=Brown |first2=Shirley Ann |date=2002 |title=Christ in Celtic Christianity: Britain and Ireland from the Fifth to the Tenth Century |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=978-0-85115-889-1 }}
* H. Richardson: ''An Introduction to Irish High Crosses''. 1990, {{ISBN|0-85342-941-3}}.

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Cite episode |title=Age of Conquest |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qn322 |series=Seven Ages of Britain |series-link=Seven Ages of Britain (BBC series) |credits=David Dimbleby |network=[[BBC One]] |minutes=29:16}}

{{Culture of Cornwall}}
{{Christian crosses}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celtic Cross}}
[[Category:Celtic crosses| ]]
[[Category:Celtic art]]
[[Category:Christian art]]
[[Category:Crosses by culture]]
[[Category:High crosses]]
[[Category:Insular art]]
[[Category:National symbols of Ireland]]
[[Category:Nationalist symbols]]
[[Category:Stone crosses]]