Crescent on the Orthodox Cross: the explanation of the symbol

The history of the Christian religion has crossed the milestone in two millennia. During this time the symbolism of the church became unobvious without additional knowledge for its parishioners. People often wonder what the crescent moon symbolizes on the Orthodox cross. Since it is difficult to achieve absolute specificity in religious symbolism, we will try to consider all the versions in order to form a correct opinion on this issue.

Cross in other cultures

Cross as a special symbol existed in different cultures even before the appearance of Christianity. For example, the Pagans symbolized the sun. In modern Christian interpretation there are echoes of this meaning. For Christians, the cross is the sun of truth, which complements the personification of salvation after Jesus Christ was crucified.

In this context, the significance of the crescent on the Orthodox cross can be understood as the victory of the sun over the moon. It is an allegory of the victory of light over darkness or of a day over night.

Crescent or boat: versions of the origin of the sign

There are several versions of what exactly symbolizes the crescent on the Orthodox cross. Among them we distinguish the following:

1. This sign is not a crescent moon. There is another ancient symbol that visually resembles it. The cross as a symbol of Christianity was not approved immediately. Constantine the Great established Christianity as the main religion of Byzantium, and this required a new recognizable symbol. And the first three centuries the graves of Christians were decorated with other signs - fish (in Greek "ichthys" - the monogram "Jesus Christ the Son of God the Savior"), an olive branch or an anchor.
2. Anchor in the Christian religion is also of special importance. Under this sign we understand the hope and inviolability of faith.
3. Also, the Bethlehem nursery is like a crescent moon. It was in them that Christ was found to be a baby. The cross at the same time relies on the birth of Christ and grows from his cradle.
4. The Eucharistic cup, in which the Body of Christ is located, can be implied by this sign.
5. This is also the symbol of the ship, led by Christ the Savior. The cross in this sense is sail. The church sails under this sail to salvation in the Kingdom of God.

All these versions to some extent correspond to the truth. Each generation invested its own meaning in this sign, so important for believing Christians.

What does the crescent on the Orthodox cross mean?

The crescent is a complex and ambiguous symbol. The centuries-old history of Christianity has imposed many imprints and legends on it. So what does the crescent on the Orthodox cross mean in the modern sense? The traditional interpretation is that it is not a crescent moon, but an anchor is a sign of a firm belief.

Evidence for this statement can be found in the biblical Hebrews (Heb. 6:19). Here, Christian hope is called a safe and strong anchor in this stormy world.

But in the Byzantine period, the crescent, the so-called tsata, became a symbol of royal power. Since then, temple domes have been adorned with crosses with a tsat at the base to remind people that the King of Kings owns this house. Sometimes this icon was also adorned with icons of saints - the Blessed Virgin, Trinity, Nicholas and others.

False interpretations

In search of an answer to the question of why on the Orthodox cross the crescent is at the bottom, people often associate this sign with Islam. Allegedly the Christian religion thus demonstrates its elevation over the Muslim world, the trampling of the crescent by the cross. This is fundamentally the wrong belief. The crescent began to symbolize the Islamic faith only in the XV century, and the first recorded image of a Christian cross with a crescent refers to the monuments of the VI century. This sign was found on the wall of the famous Sinai monastery of St. Catherine. Pride, oppression of another faith contradicts the main principles of Christianity.

Crescent and Star

With the fact that the Muslims borrowed the sign of the crescent from Byzantium, they themselves do not argue. A crescent and a star older than Islam for several thousand years. Many sources agree that these are ancient astronomical symbols that used the Central Asian and Siberian tribes to worship the sun, moon and pagan gods. Early Islam also did not have a primary symbol, they were adopted somewhat later, as with Christians. A crescent on the Orthodox cross appeared not earlier than IV-V centuries, and this innovation had a political overtones.

The crescent and the star began to be associated with the Muslim world only from the time of the Ottoman Empire. According to legend, Osman - its founder, saw a dream in which a crescent rose from the ground to the edge. Then in 1453, after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, Osman made a crescent and a star the coat of arms of his dynasty.

The differences of crosses in Christian confessions

The variations of the crosses in Christianity are many. This is not surprising, since it is one of the most numerous denominations - it is attributed to about 2.5 billion people around the world. We have already found out what the crescent moon means on the cross of the Orthodox church, but this is not its only form.

It is generally accepted that in Protestantism and Catholicism the cross always has 4 ends. And they have more Orthodox or Orthodox crosses. This is not always an accurate statement, because even the Cross of the papal ministry looks different than the 4-terminal one.

On our monasteries and churches the cross of St. Lazarus is established, and it is the 8-terminal cross. Also emphasizes the firm belief of the crescent on the Orthodox cross. What does the crossbeam mean? On this subject there is a separate biblical tradition. As we see, Christian symbols can not always be understood literally, for this it is worth more deeply into the history of world religion.