Coptic crosses

The original Coptic Crosses were a development of the Coptic Ankh which has a loop as the top arm of the cross. In its ordinal form this loop represented the sun god but the symbol was adopted by early Christian Gnostics who interpreted it rather as the eternal and everlasting love of God.

This melding of Christian with pagan and pre-Christian symbolism is very common. You see it in much of the early celtic Christian work where, again, the circle is incorporated into the symbol of the cross and many other motifs that were evident in pre-Christian work are reinterpreted within the Christian paradigm.

The Coptic Cross has many variations and involves many other strands of symbolism. They generally incorporate a circle and this has been taken to represent the halo of Christ or the all encompassing love of God in his plan for man's redemption. Some subdivide the angle between the arms into three parts, making twelve in total, representing the twelve apostles.

Today, the cross is used by the Coptic Orthodox Church but, due to its ornate style, it has been widely used in illustration and in jewellery and the basic concept has been expanded into myriad variations.