Saint John's Arms

Saint John's Arms

⌘, a square with loops at the corners, which is sometimes referred to as Saint John's Arms, the Place of Interest Sign, [Official Unicode documentation refers to the symbol as the "the Place of Interest Sign". See official documentation: [http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2300.pdf] ] or Saint Hannes cross, is an ancient symbol now commonly used throughout Northern Europe.

Ancient use

The symbol appears on a number of objects in Northern Europe. It features prominently on an image stone from Hablingbo, Gotland, Sweden that was created between 400-600 AD. [The picture stone may be viewed online here: [http://www.gotmus.i.se/1engelska/bildstenar/engelska/hablingbo_havor.htm] ]

It is also similar to a traditional heraldic emblem called a Bowen knot.James Parker, "A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry" (Oxford, 1894). [http://www.heraldsnet.org/saitou/parker/Jpglossc.htm#Cord] Retrieved on 2007-03-18.]

The symbol decorates a 1,000-year-old, pre-Christian wooden ski that was found in Finland. [Ilmar Talve: "Suomen kansankulttuuri" (1990)]

Modern use

In modern times, the symbol is commonly found in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden as an indicator of cultural locations. Unicode standards documents such as U2300 (Miscellaneous Technical, Range 2300-23FF) call it the "Place of Interest sign".

The symbol later gained international recognition via computing. It is used on the Apple Macintosh's keyboard as the symbol for the command key, where it got a variety of slang names: "cloverleaf", "splat", "splodge", "butterfly", "squiggle", "beanie", "cauliflower", "propeller", "shamrock", and "puppy print". Its Unicode code is U+2318: unicode|⌘.



The_⌘_symbol_as_seen_on_Rana museum, Norway.
Turku Cathedral showing Saint John's Arms.
command key.

References

ee also

* Bowen knot
* Command key
* Valknut
* Camunian rose


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