Religious Symbols meaning

An easy guide to the most common religious symbols and their meaning.

Welcome to Religious Symbols, a site for you who are interested in and want to know more about religious symbols. Study their design, learn about their background and meaning etc. We love religious symbols ourself and have therefore put together the most common and interesting ones to share with you. This far we have collected the most common symbols from following religions; Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islam, Jain, Juaic, Shinto, Sikh and Taoist. We will keep on to develop this site and our purpose is to be the best resource on Internet for Religious Symbols and their meaning. Symbols are a quick way to communicate often complex ideas. Religions commonly employ a great amount of symbolism to represent their beliefs. Religious symbolms have a long history that is over 100,000 years old.

Islam Symbols
Islam is a religion that began in Arabia and was revealed to humanity by the Prophet Muhammad. There are no official religious Islam symbols, but several symbols have a special place in Islam.

The Star and Cresent:

The star and crescent is the best-known symbol used to represent Islam. The symbol is not Muslim in origin, it was a polytheistic icon adopted during the spread of Islam, and its use today is sometimes controversial in the Muslim world. The crescent and star are often said to be Islamic symbols, but historians say that they were the insignia of the Ottoman Empire, not of Islam as a whole.

"Allah" in Arabic:
The words "Allah" in Arabic script or characters can be regarded as visually representing Islam as a symbol.

Christian Symbols
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament.

Christian Cross:
The cross symbol, which is today one of the most widely recognised religious symbols in the world is the earliest used Christian symbol. In the most broad sense it symbolizes the religion of Christian. More specifically, it represents and memorializes Christ's death.

Ichthys (fish):
The fish first known use as a Christian religious symbol was sometime within the first three centuries AD. Christians began using the Greek word for "fish" as an anagram/acronym for "Jesus Christ God's Son, Savior."

Buddhist Symbols
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha.

Wheel of Dharma:
The wheel of Dharma is one of the most important religious Buddhist symbols. The symbolises the Buddha's turning the Wheel of Truth or Law. The wheel refers to the story that shortly after the Buddha achieved enlightenment, Brahma came down from heaven and requested the Buddha to teach by offering him a Dharmachakra. The eight spokes of the wheel symbolize the Noble Eightfold Path set out by the Buddha in his teachings. The wheel also represents the endless cycle of samsara, or rebirth, which can only be escaped by means of the Buddha's teachings. And some Buddhists regard the the wheel's three basic parts as symbols of the "three trainings" in Buddhist practice: The hub symbolizes moral discipline, which stabilizes the mind. The spokes (usually there are eight) represent wisdom which is applied to defeat ignorance. The rim represents training in concentration, which holds everything else together.

The Lion is one of Buddhism's most potent symbols. Traditionally, the lion is associated with regality, strength and power. It is therefore an appropriate symbol for the Buddha who tradition has it was a royal prince. The Buddha's teachings are sometimes referred to as the 'Lion's Roar', again indicative of their strength and power. The image on the left shows a capital from a pillar of Asoka: the Lions of Sarnath. Sarnath is where the Buddha first preached, and these lions echo his teachings to the four quarters of the world, sometimes called 'the Lion's Roar'. The wheel symbolizes Buddhist law and also Asoka's legitimacy as an enlightened ruler. Especially in Tibetan Buddhist art, lions are often depicted on the throne the Buddha sits on, but these are Snow Lions (mythical creatures), and they actually represent the eight main Bodhisattvas (students of the Buddha).

Judaic Symbols
Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh, and explored and explained in later texts such as the Talmud.

David Star: The six-pointed star of David, It is the best known religious symbol of the Jewish faith. The sign is based on the shape of Davids shield or the symbol on his shield. The David star is a relatively new symbol of Judaism, becoming popular only in the last 200 years. It is named after King David, whom legend tells us had a shield with this star on it.

Menorah:
The menorah is the oldest religious symbol of the Jewish faith. It is a seven branched candle holder.