10 Ancient Celtic Symbols Explained

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com -  The Celts were complex, sophisticated, and influential people from around 750 BC to 12 BC in central and northern Europe. No one called the people living in Britain during the Iron Age Celts until the eighteenth century. The name 'Celts' is a modern name used to collectively describe all the many tribes of people living during the Iron Age.

10 Celtic symbols

To the Celts, symbols played a vital role and had incredible, meaningful power in their lives. They reflected Celtic beliefs and traditions. Stories behind the Celtic symbols have been carried on from generation to generation with the help of bards and storytellers, allowing Celtic heritage to live on.

Signs are often part of Celtic jewelry, and these symbols always reflect the nature of essential subjects like love, wisdom, war, loyalty, energy, and much more.

Many of the everyday things we often take for granted can hold hidden secrets, and by having the key to this knowledge, we gain an insight into the minds and concerns of our ancestors who constructed these symbols.

This top list examines the meaning behind ten important ancient Celtic symbols.

1. Brigid's Cross Is Older Than Christianity

Saint Brigid's cross, made from rushes from County Down. Sony P-200 and Jasc Paint Shop Pro 9. Image credit: Culnacreann - GFDL, CC-BY 3.0

Brigid's Cross is much older than Christianity. St Brigid, also known as "Mary of the Gael, " founded the first Irish monastery in Kildare. She was born in Dundalk in 450 AD and is accredited with creating the unique Cross that bears her name, typically made from rushes but occasionally from straw.

The Celtic goddess Brigid was the daughter of the Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann before she was gradually morphed into a Christian saint of the same name in the Middle Ages.

Brigid's Cross is thought to keep evil, fire, and hunger from the homes where it is displayed.

According to ancient Irish traditions, the spiral of the Brigid cross invokes the North Star and the pattern that the Big Dipper makes in the sky over a year. As the night sky turns around the North Star, the Big Dipper turns through the seasonal year like the hand of a clock.

2. The Claddagh: An Ancient Irish Love Symbol

Claddah ring - Credit: Royalcladdagh - CC BY-SA 3.0

This symbol is associated with the legend of the Claddagh, a fishing village just outside the city of Galway. According to the legend, a young man named Richard was fishing at sea with other men from his family when pirates captured them and brought them to Africa as enslaved people. Years passed, many of the Irish fishermen died, and Richard was miserable because all he wanted was to get back to his beloved in Ireland.

To keep his spirits up and to keep hope in his heart, each day, Richard stole a speck of gold from his enslavers in the goldsmith shop where he tended the fires. Years passed, and he could finally fashion a ring with his tiny pieces of gold. Despite what seemed nearly impossible, he hoped that he would return to his village and present the ring to his true love.

It remains unknown how Richard escaped or earned his release from slavery, but one day, he could return to Ireland. Richard was overcome with joy when he learned that his beloved had remained faithful to him in his long absence, waiting for him to return. On that day, Richard gave the precious ring he created, now known worldwide as the Claddagh Ring. The Claddagh design appears not only in rings but in other types of jewelry as well. The heart in the Claddagh symbolizes the love Richard longed to share with his true love.

The crown symbolizes his undying loyalty, and the hands represent friendship, which is, after all, the very foundation of love, with dedication holding the two hands together.

3. Shamrock: National Flower Of Ireland

Original: George McFinnigan Vector: Vitaium - Own work based on: Irish clover.jpg by George McFinnigan - CC BY 3.0

The shamrock is a single-stemmed plant growing on the hills of Ireland. St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, made the shamrock famous, and today, you can find the symbol on t-shirts, postcards, stamps, and many other things.

It is a national flower of Ireland that has had significance in the country since the days of the Druids. Legend says that St. Patrick used the shamrock's three leaves to help explain the Holy Trinity to the pagans during his mission to bring Christianity to Ireland.

4. The Harp: Symbol Of Immortality Of The Soul

The unofficial green ensign of Ireland from Bowles's Universal Display of the Naval Flags of all Nations maritime flag chart, 1783. Image source  - Carington Bowles - Public Domain

The harp was a popular musical instrument in ancient Ireland and is still greatly appreciated in the country. It is believed the harp was introduced to pre-Christian Europe by the Phoenicians, who brought it over from Egypt as one of their international trading goods. The oldest surviving Celtic harps date back to the 15th century, but the harp's music has been a vital emblem of Ireland since the 10th century.

It was played by the musicians of ancient chieftains in Ireland. In the 16th century, the music of the harp was seen as such a threat that The British Crown attempted to crush the Irish Spirit by ordering all harps to be burnt and all harpists executed. It was almost 200 years before the music of the harp was freely enjoyed in Ireland once again.

The harp is said to reflect the immortality of the soul. The harp symbol can be everywhere in Ireland, from coins, uniforms, and the state seal to the Guinness pint glass.

5. Celtic Tree Of Life - Crann Bethadh

The Celtic Tree of Life. Credit: Adobe Stock - elit76_d

Like most ancient cultures, the ancient Celts had their version of the Tree of Life. The Celts believed that trees were the ancestors of man and had a connection to the other world. The most sacred of trees was the oak.

The Celts based their Ogham alphabet on the Trees, naming each character after a unique tree.

Crann Bethadh, the Celtic Tree of Life, often depicted the branches reaching skyward and the roots spreading out into the earth below, symbolizing the Druid belief in the link between heaven and earth. Read more

6. The Green Man: Symbol Of Rebirth

The Green Man. Credit: Adobe Stock - John

The Green Man can be found in architecture around Ireland and Britain, usually on religious buildings. Also known as the 'Man in the Tree,' 'Derg Corra, Viridios, and 'Jack o' the Green, the symbol represents flourishing vegetation and the coming of spring and summer.

The Green Man is a symbol of rebirth.

7. Triskele: Symbol Of The Flow Of Nature

5,000-year-old triskelion discovered at Newgrange. Credit: Young Shanahan - CC BY 2.0

The Triskele is an ancient Irish symbol, over 5,000 years old, for the unity of the three. In the case of Celts, this is the physical, mental, and spiritual. It also symbolizes eternal life, the flow of nature, and spiritual growth.

The Celts believed that everything happens in threes. The symbol can be found in kerbstones of Newgrange, dating back to Neolithic times around 3200 BC. They also appear on coins and pottery from Ancient Greece. The Triskele is the symbol of Sicily, which used to be a Greek colony in ancient times.

The Triskele is pre-Celtic in design, dating back to before the Celts settled in Ireland, but it was incorporated into Celtic culture and frequently appears in Celtic artwork. The symbol is thought to represent continuous movement or continuously moving forward.

8. Celtic Cross: Symbol Of Faith And Culture

Celtic cross on a grave in Brompton Cemetery, London. Credit: Tracy - CC BY 2.0

The Celtic Cross predates Christianity. How and when this particular Cross became associated with the Celts is still being determined. One Christian legend says that the first Celtic Cross was formed by St. Patrick while bringing Christianity to the Druids. The Druids used to worship a large circular stone. St Patrick drew a large cross through the middle to bless it.

From this act, the two cultures combined to form the Celtic Cross. The Cross represents Christianity, and the circle is the Celtic representation of eternity, with no beginning and no end.

The symbolism behind the Cross is also shrouded in mystery. It is said to be a symbol of faith and culture. According to some sources, the Celtic Cross represents the four directions of north, south, east, and west or the four elements: earth, fire, air, and water.

9. The Awen: Symbol Of Divine Illumination

The Awen symbol. Credit: Wikipedia - Public Domain

The Awen is a Neo-Druid symbol of balance. The sign appears in Charlotte Guest's Mabinogion, a translation of old Welsh tales and folklore about the legendary King Arthur.

Various Neo-Druidic groups and individuals have their interpretation of the Awen. The three lines relate to the earth, sea, air, body, mind, and spirit of love, wisdom, and truth. Awen stands for not simply inspiration but for inspiration of truth. It is a divine symbol of illumination; without Awen, one cannot proclaim the truth.

10. Triquetra: Symbol Of Eternal Spiritual Life

Celtic triquetra knot. Credit: Adobe Stock - Gurt

The triquetra, the Trinity Knot, resembles the Ouroboros, an ancient infinity symbol. The triquetra is constructed of one continuous line interweaving around itself, symbolizing no beginning or end, an eternal spiritual life.

The Celts believed that everything necessary in the world came in three stages: three stages of life, three elements, and three domains: earth, sea, and sky, past, present, and future. The triquetra is sometimes drawn weaving around a circle, symbolizing the unity of the three parts.

Updated on February 19, 2024

Written by – A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

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