Cross potent
A cross potent (plural: crosses potent), also known as a crutch cross, is a form of
Name
Potent is an old word for a crutch, from a late Middle English alteration of Old French potence "crutch"[a] The term potent is also used in heraldic terminology to describe a T-shaped alteration of vair,[1] and potenté is a line of partition contorted into a series of 'T' shapes.[2]
In heraldic literature of the 19th century, the cross potent is also known as the "Jerusalem cross" due to its occurrence in the attributed coat of arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This convention is reflected in Unicode, where the character ☩ (U+2629) is named CROSS OF JERUSALEM. The name Jerusalem cross is more commonly given to the more complex symbol consisting of a large Greek cross or cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses.
History
The "cross potent" shape is found in pottery decorations in both the European and the Chinese Neolithic. In Chinese bronze inscriptions, the glyph ancestral to the modern Chinese character 巫 "shaman, witch" has the shape of a cross potent, interpreted as representing a cross-like "divining rod" or similar device used in shamanistic practice.[3][b]
The cross potent as a
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Tremissis minted under Theodosius II (r. 402–450)
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Visigothic tremissis (5th century)
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Calvary cross potent minted under Heraclius (c. 613–638)
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Calvary cross potent on a solidus minted under Tiberius Petasius (c. 730)
Early
Use of the
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Cross potent on an escudo minted under Charles V (r. 1519–1556)
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rinceau cross potent at a side entrance of St. Pierre Cathedral (18th century)
Use of the cross potent in heraldry is revived in the 19th to early 20th century, and then as an emblem for
Modern use
Upon the passage of the 1924
Today the cross potent is used by many, mostly Roman Catholic, Scouting and Guiding organisations in their logos and insignia. It is currently used in the coats of arms of the Santa Cruz Department in Bolivia, and of the Wingolf Christian student fraternities in Germany, Austria and Estonia.
A white cross potent on a black background was a candidate in the 2015 Hello Internet Podcast Flag Referendum.[6]
The New Columbia Movement, a self proclaimed Christian nationalist organization, uses the cross potent in their flag.[7]
References
Informational notes
- ^ from Latin potentia 'power', which in medieval Latin meant 'crutch'. du Cange; et al. (1883). "potentia 2". Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, éd. augm. Niort: L. Favre. t. 6, col. 437a, s.v.
Scipio, fulcrum subalare, nostris vulgo Potence.
See also Oxford English Dictionary, 1st. edition, entry "Potent (sb.¹ and a.²)". - ^ Tu Baikui 塗白奎 (quoted by Boileau 2002:354[full citation needed]) believes the wu oracle character "was composed of two pieces of jade and originally designated a tool of divination." Citing Li Xiaoding 李孝定 that gong 工 originally pictured a "carpenter's square", Allan (1991:77)[full citation needed] argues that oracle inscriptions used wu 巫 interchangeably with fang 方 "square; side; place" for sacrifices to the sifang 四方 "four directions".
A theory by Victor H. Mair connects the Chinese word (Old Chinese *myag, pinyin wū, Cantonese mou4 ) to Persian maguš.
See:
- Victor H. Mair, “Old Sinitic *Myag, Old Persian Maguš and English Magician”, Early China 15 (1990): 27–47;
- Victor H. Mair, “The Earliest Identifiable Written Chinese Character”, Archaeology and Language: Indo-European Studies Presented to James P. Mallory, eds. Martin E. Huld, Karlene Jones-Bley & Dean Miller (Washington, D.C.: Institute for the Study of Man, 2012), 265–279;
- Victor H. Mair, “Polysyllabic characters revisited”, Language Log, 8 June 2015.
Citations
- ^ a b Fox-Davies & Johnston 2004, p. 85.
- ^ Fox-Davies & Johnston 2004, p. 94.
- ^ "Archaic form is a cross-like device – probably a divining rod; later versions show two people 人 working 工". (chinese-characters.org); "Picture of a cross-shaped divination tool" (Mandarin-English Dictionary & Thesaurus yellowbridge.com).
- ^ William Wood Seymour (1898). The Cross in Tradition, History and Art. p. 364.
- ^ Scipione Mazzella, Giovan Battista Cappello (ed.), Descrittione del Regno di Napoli, Naples (1601), p. 133.
- ^ "Hello Internet Flag Referendum". Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ^ Movement, The New Columbia. "WE CAN DO NO OTHERWISE". THE NEW COLUMBIA MOVEMENT. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
Bibliography
- Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles; Johnston, Graham (2004) [1909]. A Complete Guide to Heraldry. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1-4179-0630-8.