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Religious Symbol
Religious syms Various Internationally Recognized Religious Symbols

Religious Symbol

A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a specific religion, a specific concept, or a specific event within a given religion. According to religious scholar Paul Tillich, "religious symbols are distinguished from others by the fact that they are a representation of what is unconditionally beyond the conceptual sphere." Religious symbols are representations of ideas, events, or individuals that go beyond the ability of human understanding, as the topic of religion often does. Religious symbols are typically "multivocal" in that they usually represent more than one thing at a time. For example, a religious symbol may stand for a single event while also representing a much deeper and complex concept within a particular religious tradition. They are created within the historical process of a religion as it develops over time, with some symbols evolving to represent a religion as a whole. These symbols are carried forward typically with a great amount of reverence within religions through incorporation into a religion's myths, doctrines, and rituals.

Prominent Symbols Within Major World Religions Today

Christianity

The symbol most synonymous with the Christian faith and the majority of its denominations is the cross. The cross, or crucifix, is the dominant symbol within the Christian faith because it represents a major event within the formation of Christianity, the crucifixion of Jesus. According to Christians, Jesus, the central figure of the Christian faith, suffered and died on the cross in order to absolve humanity of its sins. The cross as a symbol exists to remind Christians of Jesus' ultimate love for humanity, and God's ability to forgive sins. It also has come to symbolizes the Christian belief that there are three parts, the father, the son, and the holy spirit, to one God, signified by the three points towards the top of the cross. It is important to note that there are many symbols under the large umbrella of Christianity that are also seen as very significant to believers. However, the cross has become the dominant symbol of Christianity and even without all Christian denominations subscribing to its significance it has become one of the most recognized symbols in the world today.

Christian cross

Judaism

The Star of David or Shield of David is the symbol most commonly used to represent the Jewish faith. The Star of David, unlike other Jewish symbols such as the Lion of Judah, has not always been an exclusively Jewish symbol. It is said to represent King David's shield, but there is little evidence of this within the early rabbinic literature. It came to represent the Jewish community when it was chosen as the symbol of the first Zionist Congress in 1897. Before that, it was used to label buildings as synagogues similarly to the way the cross was used to signify buildings as churches. It consists of two equilateral triangles that form a hexagram. During WWII the Star of David was used by the Nazis to visibly label Jewish persons as well as their places of rest. Today, it can be seen within synagogues and on the flag of Israel, representing the countries historical connection to the Jewish faith.

Black Star of David

Islam

The symbol most commonly used today to signify the Islamic faith is the star and crescent. This is a relatively new symbol within the Islamic faith that arose within the Ottoman Empire.The star and crescent was used by the Ottoman Empire to indicate geographical areas that predominantly consisted of Muslims. Within those areas the symbol was placed on the top of minarets to signify a mosque, and it is still is used for that purpose today. The star and crescent symbol dates back to use in Sumerian society, where it was associated with the sun and moon goddesses within Sumerian culture. However, it is important to note that this symbol is not mentioned anywhere within the Quran, the holy book of the Islamic faith, and many Muslims do not accept this symbol at all. Some Muslims even see the symbol of the star and crescent as un-Islamic and blasphemous. Still, it is the internationally recognized symbol of Islam even though it holds very little connection to the core beliefs of the Islamic faith itself. A symbol that is less recognized, but is frequently more accepted by devout Muslims is the calligraphy for the word Allah, the Arabic word for the god of Abraham. Muslims are restricted from producing an image of their god and so the written word of Allah holds a large amount of significance and is used to symbolize god within the Islamic faith. The calligraphy for the word Allah is more widely accepted than the star and crescent within the Ummah, the Islamic community.

Al Ghaffar

Crescent02

Taoism (Daoism) and Confucianism

The taijitu, more commonly known as the yin yang symbol, is closely associated with Taoism. However, the taijitu is not an exclusive symbol of Taoism. While the majority of Taoist organizations make explicit use of the symbol, it is also seen in association with Confucianism or Neo-Confucianisim. Though the symbol is closely connected to Chinese philosophy as a whole, it is typically seen today as representing Taoism. It represents a defined sense of polarity in the world and a focus towards the importance of balance. Both of these concepts appear frequently within Chinese philosophy. It symbolizes the idea of two different modes of being within Taoist teachings: yin and yang. Yin represents a mode of stillness and calmness while yang represents a mode of activity and intensity. These two contrasting modes of being are represented by the white and black colors within the taijitu.

Yin yang

Hinduism

The symbol Om or Aum is first mentioned in the early Upanishads, one of the scared texts of Hinduism. For Hindus, it is understood to be the concept of a "cosmic sound," "mystical syllable," "affirmation to something divine", or as symbolism for abstract spiritual concepts in the Upanishads. Within the Rig Veda, one of the many sacred Hindu texts, it states that the three phonetic components of the sound Om correspond to the three stages of cosmic creation, and when it is read or spoken it celebrates the creative power of the universe. Om is more often said or chanted rather than written, but the written form is wildly understood today to symbolize Hinduism. Om came to be used as a standard utterance at the beginning of mantras, chants or citations taken from the Vedas. It is very commonly used during meditation to connect Hindus, and often non-Hindus, with the primordial sound associated with the creation of universe from nothing. The written form of this sound is recognized as a scared symbol for Hindus.

Yoga-Ohm

History of Symbols Representing a Specific Religion

Religious tradition	Name	Symbol	Origin	Notes and references
Baha'i	nine-pointed star			According to the Abjad system of Isopsephy, the word Bahá' has a numerical equivalence of 9, and thus there is frequent use of the number 9 in Bahá'í symbols.[1] It was recognized as a grave marker by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in 2005.
Buddhism	Wheel of Dharma			The Wheel has been used as a symbol for the concept of Dharma since at least the 3rd century BC. It has been defined as representing Buddhism as a religious tradition as one of the United States military chaplain symbols in 1990.
Christianity	Christian cross		2nd century CE	The Christian cross was in use from the time of early Christianity, but it remained less prominent than competing symbols (Ichthys, Staurogram, Alpha and Omega, Christogram, Labarum, etc.) until the medieval Crusades. Early Christianity had use for such symbols due to the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, as the symbol allowed inconspicuous identification of one Christian to another.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The	Angel Moroni		1844	The Angel Moroni is an important figure in the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement, and is featured prominently in Mormon architecture and art. An angel with trumpet motif was first used as the weather vane for the 1844 Nauvoo Temple, and starting with the 1892 Salt Lake Temple, most LDS temples feature an Angel Moroni statue, including the rebuilt 2002 Nauvoo Illinois Temple.
Hinduism	Om			The syllable "om" or "aum" is first described as all-encompassing mystical entity in the Upanishads. Hindus believe that as creation began, the divine, all-encompassing consciousness took the form of the first and original vibration manifesting as sound "OM".[2]Before creation began it was "Shunyākāsha", the emptiness or the void. The vibration of "OM" symbolises the manifestation of God in form ("sāguna brahman"). "OM" is the reflection of the absolute reality, it is said to be "Adi Anadi", without beginning or the end and embracing all that exists.[2] The mantra "OM" is the name of God, the vibration of the Supreme. When taken letter by letter, A-U-M represents the divine energy (Shakti) united in its three elementary aspects: Bhrahma Shakti (creation), Vishnu Shakti (preservation) and Shiva Shakti (liberation, and/or destruction).[2]
Islam	Star and Crescent		1900s	The star and crescent symbol was used as the flag of the Ottoman Empire from 1844. It was only gradually associated with Islam, in particular due to its ubiquitous use in the decorations of Ottoman mosques in the late 19th century. It was only occasionally adopted as an emblem of Islamic organisations, such as the All-India Muslim League in 1940 (later becoming the Flag of Pakistan), and the US American Nation of Islam in the 1970s.
Islam	Islamic calligraphy	(various)		The strong tradition of aniconism in Islam prevented the development of symbols for the religion until recently (other than single-coloured flags, see Green in Islam, Black Standard). The lack of a symbol representing Islam as a religion paired with the desire to come up with national flags for the newly formed Islamist states of the 1970s led to the adoption of written text expressing core concepts in such flags: the shahada in the flag of Saudi Arabia (1973) and a stylized Allah in the Flag of Iran (1979). The Flag of Iraq (2008) has the takbir.
Jainism	Jain emblem		1974	An emblem representing Jainism was introduced in 1974.
Judaism	Star of David		17th century CE	Jewish flags featuring hexagrams alongside other devices appear from as early as the 14th or 15th century CE. Use of the Star of David as representing the Jewish community is first recorded in Vienna in the 17th century CE.
Mithraic mysteries	Tauroctony		2nd century CE	Mithraism is notable for its extensive use of graphical symbols, mostly associated with astrological interpretations. The central symbol is the scene of Mithras slaying the bull; Mithras could also be symbolized in simplified form by representing a Phrygian cap.
Norse polytheism	Thor's Hammer		9th century CE	During the gradual Christianization of Scandinavia, from roughly 900 to 1100 CE, there was a fashion of wearing Thor's Hammer pendants, apparently in imitation of the Cross pendants worn by Christians. These pendants have been revived since the 1970s are representing Germanic Neopaganism.
Roman imperial cult	Radiant crown		2nd century CE	Long used as symbol for Sun gods, the crown became the symbol of the divine status of the Roman Emperor, identified with Sol Invictus, around the 2nd century CE. The concept gave rise to the royal crowns familiar throughout the European Middle Ages.
Satanism	Sigil of Baphomet		1960's	The Sigil of Baphomet is the official insignium of LaVeyan Satanism and the Church of Satan. The Sigil was derived from an older symbol that appeared in the 1897 book "La Clef de la Magie Noire". This symbol was for a time used by the Church of Satan during its formative years. During the writing of The Satanic Bible, it was decided that a unique version of the symbol should be rendered to be identified exclusively with the Church of Satan. The complete graphic now known as the Sigil of Baphomet, named such for the first time in Anton LaVey's The Satanic Rituals, first appeared on the cover of The Satanic Mass LP in 1968 and later on the cover of The Satanic Bible in 1969.[3] The symbol is copyrighted by the Church.[4]
Shinto	Torii
Sikhism	Khanda		1920	A graphical representation of the Sikh slogan Deg Tegh Fateh (1765), adopted by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeein 1920.
Taoism	Taijitu		1800s	The modern "yin and yang symbol" develops into its current shape in the 17th century, based on earlier (Song era) diagrams. It is occasionally used as representing Taoism in Western literature by the late 19th century.
Thelema	Unicursal hexagram		1904
Unitarian Universalism	Flaming chalice		1960s	Originates as a logo drawn for the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee in 1940; adapted to represent Unitarian Universalism in 1962; recognized by the US Department for Veteran Affairs in 2006.
Wicca	Pentacle		1990s?	The pentacle or pentagram has a long history as a symbol used in alchemy and western occultism; it was adopted as a symbol in Wicca in c. the 1960s. There was a campaign to recognize it as a symbol representing Wicca as a religion on US veteran headstones since the late 1990s, and the symbol was recognized for use on such headstones in 2007.[5]
Zoroastrianism	Faravahar			Regarded as a national icon in Iran, as well as a symbol among Zoroastrians.

Why Religions Use Symbols

According to Anthropologist, Clifford Geertz, religion is defined as a system made up of symbols that works to define the cosmos in a way that people will know how to respond to it. As a symbolic system, religion gives order to the universe, and therefore helps eliminate the chaos, ambiguity, and helplessness that people experience. Religion provides ultimate answers to otherwise unexplainable questions for believers. Geertz goes onto say that religious symbols fuse individual's ethos which he defines as the picture one has of the way things actually are. By synthesizing people's ethos, religious symbols enable believers to affirm their spiritual reality even when their experiences contradict one another. This both brings people together and allows them to see significance in their religious beliefs. Religious symbols can also be used as a language to communicate ideas about belief. This is just one explanation as to why religious utilize symbols and why they often stand the test of time. The true reason why religions use symbols so frequently is unknown, but Geertz provides a great place to start.

See Also

• Allegory
• Ayyavazhi symbolism
• Cultural, political, and religious symbols in Unicode
• Bahá'í symbols
• Buddhist symbolism
• Christian symbolism
• French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools
• Jewish symbolism
• Religion in national symbols
• Religious symbolism
• Symbolism in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Symbols of Islam
• United States military chaplain symbols
• Khada (Sikh Symbol)
• Pentacle (Satanism Symbol)
• Shinto Symbolism
• Jainism Symbolism

References

[1] Tillich, Paul. "The Religious Symbol." Daedalus 87 (1958): 3-21.

[2] Turner, Victor. "Symbols in Ndembu Ritual." Sociological Theory and Philosophical Analysis 1 (1970): 150-82.

[3] Mahn, Jason. "What Are Churches for ? Toward an Ecclesiology of the Cross After Christendom."  Ecclesiology 51 (2012): 14-23.

[4] Warfield, Benjamin. "The Essence of Christianity and the Cross of Christ." The Harvard Theological Review 7 (1914): 538-94.

[5] Greene, Dana M, and James R Peacock. "Judaism, Jewishness, and the Universal Symbols of Identity: Re-Sacralizing the Star of David and the Color Yellow." Studies in American Jewish Literature 30 (2011): 80-98.

[6] Siti, Sholihati. "The Use of Religious Symbols to Represent Islam." Analisa 1 (2016): 91.

[7] Fang, Tony. "Chinese Communication Characteristics: A Yin Yang Perspective." International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011): 320-333.

[8] Blumenthal, James. "Three Turnings of the Wheel of the Dharma." Mandala 1 (2008): 18-19.

[9] Geertz, Clifford. "Religion as a Cultural System." Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion 1 (1966): 16-23.

Images

Images used taken from Religious symbol at Wikimedia Commons