What's the Symbolism of the Celtic Cross?

Question

What's the Symbolism of the Celtic Cross? (You know, the one with the ring around the center of it)

Answer 1

A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines the cross with a ring surrounding the intersection.

It is the characteristic symbol of Celtic Christianity, though the symbol has older, pre-Christian origins. Such crosses formed a major part of Celtic art. This design is also referred to as the Irish Cross, or as the Cross of Iona.
In Celtic regions of Ireland and Britain many free-standing upright crosses – or high crosses – were erected, beginning at least as early as the 7th Century. Some of these 'Celtic' crosses bear inscriptions in runes. There are surviving free-standing crosses in Cornwall and Wales, in the island of Iona and in the Hebrides, as well as the many in Ireland. Other stone crosses are found in Cumbria and the Scottish Borders, however some of these are of the similar Anglo-Saxon cross making tradition. The most famous standing crosses are the Cross of Kells, County Meath, Ireland, Ardboe Auld Cross, Ardboe, County Tyrone, Ireland,the crosses at Monasterboice, County Louth, Ireland, and the Cross of the Scriptures, Clonmacnoise, Ireland

There are numerous representation of crosses combined with a circle, even before Christianity. Often called "sun cross", they can be found in Bronze Age Europe (Nordic Bronze Age, Urnfield culture).

The Old English word for cross as an instrument of torture is rood (literally "pole", cognate with rod). The word cross in English derives only indirectly from Latin crux via Old Irish and possibly Old Norse, introduced in the 10th century.

Answer 2

That is the Celtic Christian cross. There are several styles of Celtic crosses.
The original Celtic Cross is a pre-Christian symbol of the four roads of life emitting from a central source and within the circle representing the sun.
In the Christian version the center represents the Son.

Answer 3

A few other things -
Like they mentioned, the circle is the solar disc, and the four cross beams represent the four elements. They also represent the four primary points of the solar year, which (in the ancient world) corresponded to Aquarius (man), Tuarus (bull), Leo (lion), and Scorpio (eagle) [Scorpio was represented as an eagle because the scorpion was considered an ill omen.] These images were used to represent the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as the four angels surrounding the throne of God.

The Celtic cross also represents the Omphalos, or world-axis. The cross represents the axis, and the circle represents the earth. The cross also represents the timelessness of God (at the center), and the course of linear time (the circle).

Answer 4

I hate to disagree with young Miss Lost Cause (who also cut and pasted from google and can't spell) but it is a solar and earth element combined. The cross is the earth and the disc the sun. It later was used by St. Patrick to convert the Celts to Christianity (and in Ireland there are many of the local old gods left, just under different names). In Ireland the old Faith has never really died, it just all has new names, no matter what Rome would like to say about it...oh, excuse me ahem...bad Otter.
I suggest taking a look at the Book of Kells for beautiful intelacing and for just a look at the Celtic Crosses themselves (yes, I prefer books to websites, I'm old-fashioned) try 101 Celtic Crosses by Courtney Davis. It has a marvelous introduction to the subject and beautiful pictures that you can drink your fill of. Enjoy.

Answer 5

Also known as the solar cross. The ring is the sun and the four arms the four points of the compass or the 4 elements.

Answer 6

The story is that St. Patrick made a hybrid image of the cross and the sun to help the Pagan Celts understand the so called "life giving" nature of Christ.

Answer 7

Well like most symbols - there are many meanings.
It's forefather was the solar cross.

However read here to find out more on your own:
http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefscelticcross.htm

Blessed,
Nick

Answer 8

what the person above says isnt true

firstly jesus was crusified on the cross that was the style of the celtic cross

the symbolism is the circle of the Celtic Cross is a symbol of eternity that emphasizes the endlessness of God’s love as shown through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. That is unless he says the circle is a halo. the crucifixion of jesus is important not just as an event at a certain point in time but, as the circle symbolizes, as the unending mystery of how through the crucifixion and resurrection Christ continues to offer the hope of salvation to the faithful throughout all time.
There is a long history of the powerful Celtic Cross and its ambiguous. There are many variations of interpretations and legends about the original meaning that are commonly repeated even today. The Presbyterian and Catholic are often startled to learn that the other considers this symbol their own. In our modern multicultural world the ringed cross is as much a symbol of ethnic heritage as it is of faith and it is often used as an emblem of ones Irish, Scottish or Welsh identity.

but anyways as an expression "At the pub" when the subject comes up you might just as likely hear the explanation that the great stone Celtic Crosses were carved from the standing stones of the Druids and were originally phallic symbols, just carved into crosses to disguise their original purpose. No proof of this theory is offered and the in-your-face delivery of this information will probably intimidate you from asking for any. The barroom iconographer will swear on the graves of all his ancestors that it is true. With the rise of interest in the occult and pagan ideas in recent years you are likely to read New Age interpretations about how the cross in the circle is a symbol of the Sun that was worshipped by the Druids and that this symbol was appropriated by the Christians. Look for these sorts of explanations on the cards that accompany jewelry and head shop bric-a-brac. Born Again Pagans are enthusiastic about Celtic designs and are successfully appropriating Christian symbols back to their supposed primal meaning. Just how much of this is fantasy and how much is based in historical fact is difficult to sort out since the academic keepers of the facts are so reluctant to discuss symbolic meaning.

The Cross did not become a common symbol of Christianity until the 4th century. Images of the cross were in fact quite rare before the Golden Legend became popular and the "discovery" of the "True Cross" promoted fragments of the "True Cross" as powerful relics.

There are in Britain stone monuments that may be the ancestor of the Celtic Cross. The Chi-Rho symbol, the monogram of Christ was a commonly used symbol of Christianity in the 4th century Roman Empire. The Emperor Constantine who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire used as his emblem the Chi-Rho in a laurel wreath. Thus combined were a pagan Imperial symbol of Rome with a symbol of the new faith. The diagonal cross members of the Chi were eventually conventionalized to a single horizontal cross member that made its cross with the vertical stem of the Rho and the wreath was conventionalized into a simple circle. There are examples of this where the loop of the Rho is also conventionalized into a shepherd’s crook. One can easily see how the curved crook of the staff could disappear to leave just a cross in a circle as is common in many Welsh crosses of the early Celtic Christian period which followed the Roman withdrawal from Britain.

The carvings fall into several categories, with several or all of these present on any example. Human figures representing Biblical stories or the crucifixion offer the most obvious meaning. Endless knotwork, spirals, meanders and "key patterns" and zoomorphic animal patterns make up the majority of early cross carving subjects. These are the same elements that are used in much the same way in metalwork and in Gospel illumination. The term insular is used to describe this style. There are many regional variations. The Iona group crosses are distinctive in their shape. Many of the Irish High crosses of the 10th century are capped with a pitched roof or "house cap" that are similar to reliquaries made to resemble a Celtic oratory.

there are more explanations on google