What is your favorite style of crosses?

[Bishka]

What is your favorite style of crosses? (Poll to come!)

#1: St. Andrew's Cross
​

​

#2: Ankh

#3: Basque Cross

#4: Celtic Cross

​

 

[Bishka]

#5: Double Cross

#6: Sun Cross:

#7: Christian Cross

#8: Patriarchal Cross

​

 

[Bishka]

#9: Cross of Saint Peter

​

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Celtic and Ankh. (Though the Sun cross is lovely, too!)

 

[Mike182]

Celtic first, Ankh second, and the Sun cross third.

 

[Booko]

Celtic all the way!

Well....almost! I do like the Orthodx crosses as well:

 

[Lux et Umbra]

The Ankh because of its meaning and place in Ancient Egypt. Only later was it adopted as an Christian symbol (mostly by Coptic Christians I believe).

Ankh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ancient Ankh Symbol of Life
Ancient Egypt: the Mythology - Ankh --
While the origins of the ankh may be obscure, the meaning is certainly clear - "life". It is with this basic connotation that the sign is carried in the hands of many Egyptian deities. The ankh may represent the life-giving elements of air and water. It was often shown being offered to the king's lips as a symbol of the "breath of life." Anthropomorphic pictures of the ankh sometimes show it holding an ostrich-feather fan behind the pharaoh in a variant form of this idea. Similarly, chains of ankhs were shown poured out of water vessels over the king as a symbol of the regenerating power of water. Libation vessels which held the water used in religious ceremonies were themselves sometimes produced in the shape of the ankh hieroglyph.
The popularity of the ankh is evident in the numerous and varied types of everyday objects which were shaped in the form of the ankh. In Tutankhamun's tomb, a gilded mirror case was found in the shape of the ankh. The artist clearly was enjoying a play on words, as the Egyptian word for "mirror" was also, "ankh." Other objects such as spoons and sistrums were constructed in this familiar shape.
The ankh was popular throughout Egyptian history and due to its cruciform shape remained so into the Coptic period. It entered Christian iconography as the crux ansata, the handled or "eyed" cross.

*
The Celtic Cross is pretty cool, too. ETA: The Basque Cross is too.
I would wear the Ankh and I do, but I wouldn't wear any of the other crosses because I don't feel it's appropriate for me to, not being a Christian and all.

 

[James the Persian]

That's not 'the Orthodox cross', though westerners usually think it is. It's really only an Orthodox cross, and one that you'll rarely see outside of Slavic countries. Interestingly, because that one's called a St. Andrew's cross as well (because of a tradition about his evanglism along the Black Sea - we also have the tradition that he was crucified in an X, as you can see in icons of him), I won't take part in the poll - it would be too confusing. Personally I prefer more elaborate Orthodox crosses such as the St. Vladimir's cross and Russian soldier's cross (which is the one I actually wear) because they contain so much extra symbolism, skull of Adam under the cross, ICXC over by cross bar, spears, sponges, suns, all sorts depending on the particular design. I'm also quite partial to the Romanian three barred cross, which has all three bars paralel rather than having the bottom one slanted.

I've also always liked the St. Cuthbert's cross, Celtic crosses and the Jerusalem Cross. I can't copy and paste them because of the way the site is, but you can see (and buy, if any take your fancy) many different Orthodox cross designs plus all the others I mentioned here:

http://www.gallerybyzantium.com/

I'll see if I can hunt down some examples of the three barred cross you'll usually see in Romania.

James

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Ankh and Celtic Cross.
I also like this one.

The Illuminati cross. I don't know why, but I find it to be very beutiful.

 

[Circle_One]

The Ankh because of its meaning and place in Ancient Egypt. Only later was it adopted as an Chrisian symbol (mostly by Coptic Christians I believe).

Ankh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ancient Ankh Symbol of Life
Ancient Egypt: the Mythology - Ankh --
While the origins of the ankh may be obscure, the meaning is certainly clear - "life". It is with this basic connotation that the sign is carried in the hands of many Egyptian deities. The ankh may represent the life-giving elements of air and water. It was often shown being offered to the king's lips as a symbol of the "breath of life." Anthropomorphic pictures of the ankh sometimes show it holding an ostrich-feather fan behind the pharaoh in a variant form of this idea. Similarly, chains of ankhs were shown poured out of water vessels over the king as a symbol of the regenerating power of water. Libation vessels which held the water used in religious ceremonies were themselves sometimes produced in the shape of the ankh hieroglyph.
The popularity of the ankh is evident in the numerous and varied types of everyday objects which were shaped in the form of the ankh. In Tutankhamun's tomb, a gilded mirror case was found in the shape of the ankh. The artist clearly was enjoying a play on words, as the Egyptian word for "mirror" was also, "ankh." Other objects such as spoons and sistrums were constructed in this familiar shape.
The ankh was popular throughout Egyptian history and due to its cruciform shape remained so into the Coptic period. It entered Christian iconography as the crux ansata, the handled or "eyed" cross.

*
The Celtic Cross is pretty cool, too. ETA: The Basque Cross is too.
I would wear the Ankh and I do, but I wouldn't wear any of the other crosses because I don't feel it's appropriate for me to, not being a Christian and all.

Lux kinda spells it out for me, concerning my reason for choosing the ankh.

The fact that it holds sacred meaning within my religion kind of says it all..

 

[Gentoo]

SUN!!! then Ankh.

 

[jacquie4000]

I have always loved the celtic cross.

 

[James the Persian]

I'm back with pictures of some Romanian crosses. Here's Fr. Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa, vesnica pomenire, with a Romanian blessing cross (Slav ones will usually have a slanted bottom bar)

Here's an example from a Romanian Church (Sucevita monastery, look at the roof):

Here's a typical wooden cross of the sort you find outise in many villages (though the designs vary a lot):

And here's one from an icon (the three barred cross you'll usually see in Romania is in the hand of St. John):

James

 

[FatMan]

I love the double cross.

Especially when it is used as a resolution to a movie conflict

 

[athanasius]

I like the crucifix of St Benedict!

 

[mostly harmless]

Ankh and Celtic Cross.
I also like this one.

The Illuminati cross. I don't know why, but I find it to be very beutiful.

It is very beautiful!!

 

[mostly harmless]

I wear the ankh...to me it represents the continuity of life.

I am thinking of getting a longer chain and adding some religious symblos from various religions because of the teachings that are represented with those symbols.

 

[XAAX]

Ankh and Celtic Cross.
I also like this one.

The Illuminati cross. I don't know why, but I find it to be very beutiful.

There is a lot of different symbolism all tied together in it. Although I find it interesting to look at, it is unbalanced both in design and meaning...It is well made though...

 

[XAAX]

I only like equal arm crosses. This is an example of what I mean:

View attachment Greyfriars%20Celtic%20Cross.jpg​