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Symbols central to religious and devotional practice, across faiths and across several thousand years.
Many of these are sacred to living communities. Their pages record what practitioners hold them to mean, and note where casual use causes offence.
Something this symbol is documented to represent is associated with this idea. That is a fact about the recorded meaning, not a claim that everyone perceives the symbol this way.
Showing the 48 strongest of 65. Browse by domain to see every symbol in the catalogue.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to afterlife: “…symbol of vitality and continuity into the afterlife”
An ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic sign shaped like a cross with a looped top, signifying life.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to worship: “Is met far outside worship: on carpets and thangkas, on the covers of books…”
A set of eight auspicious marks drawn together in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain traditions.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to scripture: “…the Avestan language of the Zoroastrian scriptures with complete vowel and consonant notation”
A script built to record sound exactly.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to deity: “…face whose identity is unresolved: the sun deity Tonatiuh, the earth deity Tlaltecuhtli and the night…”
A vast carved disc with a central face ringed by glyphs.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to sacred: “Denotes the leaf of the sacred fig, Ficus religiosa, the species associated with…”
A heart-shaped leaf with a long tapering drip tip.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to liturgical: “…Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu and other liturgical practice”
A hanging or standing vessel for burning incense.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to devotional: “…emblem of Jewish identity rather than as a devotional object”
Two Hebrew letters read as the word for 'living', worn as a pendant.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to worship: “The figures are not objects of worship, a misconception old enough to be embedded in the…”
A figure that names a lineage.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to holy: “Denotes the Holy Spirit in Christian iconography, following the gospel…”
A dove carved on a monument, often in flight or with an olive branch.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to holy: “…legionary aquila, and was adopted by the Holy Roman Empire, and later by Austria, Russia, Prussia…”
A stylised eagle, usually shown displayed with wings spread.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to devotional: “…as the interdependence of things, and in devotional use also as long life: no part of the knot can be…”
A closed lattice of interwoven right-angled lines with no beginning and no end.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to liturgical: “…manner of chanting in Ethiopian Orthodox liturgical text”
Marks for chanting, above the line.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to devotional: “…practice, making it one of the most persistent devotional forms in the region”
An offering left in thanks for a prayer answered.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to divine: “…the expected combination would spell a divine name — a numeral system with a deliberate gap in it”
Letters counted as numbers.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to liturgical: “Survived in Croatian liturgical use for centuries after being displaced elsewhere…”
The first Slavic alphabet.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to deity: “…identification with a pre-Christian vegetation deity that has been repeated ever since”
A face with foliage growing from it, carved in a church.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to scripture: “…the Vedic system into a script used for a scripture that is not Vedic, which is a straightforward case…”
A borrowed accent mark.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to worship: “…counters and ticket offices, in places of worship, theatres, cinemas and council chambers, in taxis…”
An outlined ear with a diagonal bar, usually with a 'T' in the lower-right corner — indicating an assistive listening system, and specifically an induction loop when the T is present.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to holy: “…national coat of arms, and depicts the actual Holy Crown held in the Hungarian Parliament building”
A gold crown with a visibly bent cross on top.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to worship: “Is worn and displayed widely outside worship — on pendants, on car windows, on shop fronts and…”
A written Gurmukhi phrase used as an emblem, opening the Sikh scripture.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to sacred: “…marking the transition from ordinary to sacred ground”
A torii gate: two uprights under two horizontal beams.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to holy: “…crossed keys are borne in the arms of the Holy See and of the Papacy, referring to the keys of the…”
A key with a ringed bow and a toothed bit, often borne in crossed pairs.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to worship: “Identifies Christianity and Christian places of worship, and is the form most often meant by 'the cross' without…”
An upright cross with a shorter crossbar set above the centre.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to liturgical: “Follow the liturgical year in vestments and hangings, with violet, white…”
Vestment and hanging colours following the church year.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to sacred: “Represents a palace or sacred precinct in plan rather than an abstract pattern…”
A concentric geometric diagram, square within circle.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to liturgical: “Writes ritual and liturgical text in the Tibetan Bon tradition”
A Bon liturgical script.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to liturgical: “…during construction, those made as part of a liturgical act, and those added by users of the building afterwards”
Who made a mark is the first question, and it changes what it can mean.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to devotional: “Reminds the wearer of mortality as a devotional discipline rather than as a threat or a taste for…”
A skull, coffin or hourglass on a ring, worn as a reminder of mortality.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to prayer: “…the direction of Mecca and therefore of prayer”
A niche in a mosque wall showing the direction of prayer.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to devotional: “…in Iberian and Latin American Catholic devotional practice”
A small metal votive shaped as a limb, an organ, a person or an animal.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to devotional: “…conversation — in a way that a reader used to devotional objects being handled carefully may misread”
A string of thirty-three or ninety-nine beads used for counting recitations.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to liturgical: “…written above the text in medieval and later liturgical manuscripts”
Early note shapes showing melodic direction rather than exact pitch.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to scripture: “…read unpointed, so the marks belong to scripture, poetry, dictionaries and children's books rather…”
Dots and lines beneath the letters.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to worship: “…architecture is what marks a Sikh place of worship”
A triangular saffron flag bearing the Khanda.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to sacred: “Contracts a sacred name to its first and last letters beneath a bar in…”
A contracted sacred name under a bar.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to sacred: “…its three constituent sounds (A-U-M) onto sacred triads such as waking/dreaming/deep-sleep states…”
The sacred syllable and symbol ॐ, representing the totality of existence in Hinduism, and used with distinct meanings in Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to devotional: “A live devotional practice rather than a historical curiosity: omamori…”
A small brocade pouch amulet sold at Japanese shrines and temples.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to scripture: “…book as a life still open to view or the scriptures, the closed book as a life completed. The distinction…”
An open book carved on a monument, often a Bible.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to devotional: “…bar within Orthodox tradition; these are devotional interpretations rather than a single settled account”
A cross with three crossbars, the lowest set at a slant.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to sacred: “…Slavonic titlo it was used above all for sacred names — two scripts that borrowed the convention from…”
A mark of honour over a short form.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to prayer: “…coast, and are generally read as votive — a prayer for a voyage or thanks for a safe return — rather…”
Ships, crosses and names scratched by people passing through.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to prayer: “Count repetitions of a prayer or a name, on a string whose bead count differs by…”
Strings whose bead count identifies the tradition.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to prayer: “Denotes the knot of an Orthodox Christian prayer rope, a woven wool knot containing several interlocking…”
A woven knot of many interlocking crosses, tied in wool.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to devotional: “…containing written mantras, turned as a devotional practice in Tibetan Buddhism”
A cylinder inscribed with mantras and turned by hand.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to prayer: “…together and fingers extended upward, denoting prayer, devotion or the piety of the deceased”
Two hands pressed together with fingers pointing upward.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to liturgical: “Closes a major division in a formal or liturgical Tibetan text”
A heaped-jewel bar.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to prayer: “Counts a fixed sequence of prayers rather than an arbitrary number of repetitions, which…”
A loop of beads in five groups of ten, with a short pendant tail ending in a crucifix.
A documented meaning of this symbol refers to liturgical: “…the Samaritan Pentateuch and Samaritan liturgical texts”
The older Hebrew letters, still in use.
The setting this symbol is used in invites this impression. It describes the context, not the symbol's definition.
Showing the 48 strongest of 167. Browse by domain to see every symbol in the catalogue.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A raised open palm facing outward, fingers up — the gesture of fearlessness.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A raised open palm with a wheel at its centre, bearing the word ahimsa.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
The divine name as one glyph.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, used together.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A winged human figure carved as a monument or in relief.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A decorated circle closing a verse.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A wheel of curving rays.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
The ancient auspicious mark as it continues in Asian religious practice.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A star of nine points.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Three lines and two stars.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A pattern of strokes carrying news.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Signs of interval, not of pitch.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A cross with a ring encircling the intersection of its arms.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A clef that moves.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
The Greek letters X and P superimposed as a monogram of Christ.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A tiered tower in profile.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A single winding path set into a floor — not a maze.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
The building points east, and that is why 'the east end' means the altar.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Two descending notes joined in one neume.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Money left at a shrine, well or grave.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A spiral shell drawn with its opening to the right, blown as a horn in ritual.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A ringed cross painted or cut on a church wall, marking an anointing.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Greek letters counting in Egypt.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A row of small carved heads under the eaves.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A spoked wheel representing the Buddha's teaching.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Both hands cupped in the lap, right resting on left, thumb tips touching.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Five colours in five points.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Thirteen months, one of five days.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A painted thanks on a wall.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Five letters that change shape at the end.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
One throws water off the roof; the other does not, and only one is a gargoyle.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A stroke marking an abbreviation.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Two strokes marking a multi-letter short form.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A handbell with a vajra-shaped handle.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A pair of fish drawn upright and facing one another, tails down.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
The compass direction a burial faces, set by tradition.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A paired stone beast set at an entrance.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A mark from a certifying body stating that a product is permissible under Islamic law.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
An open right-hand palm, often with an eye motif, used across Jewish, Muslim, Christian and secular Middle Eastern/North African traditions as a protective symbol.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A lunar year pulled back into the sun.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A mark binding a word to the next.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A mark dividing a verse into clauses.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A year counted from a journey.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Abbreviated Greek letters naming the figure in an icon.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Three letters, I H S, carved as a Christian monogram.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A letter turned around in the margin.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
A composite emblem shaped like a standing figure, containing a swastika, a raised palm and a crescent.
It is catalogued in the religious domain, where it is used in devotional practice.
Four arms for four states of being.