The three-bar cross (☦) most closely associated with Russian Orthodoxy — where the top bar represents Pilate's inscription, and the slanted bottom bar carries a specific, centuries-old meaning tied to the two thieves crucified alongside Jesus. Click any symbol to copy it instantly.
The Orthodox cross (☦, U+2626) adds two extra bars to the plain Latin cross. The short top bar represents the titulus — the plaque bearing Pilate's inscription ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’ (often abbreviated INRI). The main bar is the crossbar itself. The bottom bar is the suppedaneum, or footrest — and it's drawn on a slant, which Byzantine tradition, documented from roughly the 11th century onward, explains through the two thieves crucified alongside Jesus: the side angled upward points toward the repentant thief ascending to heaven, and the side angled downward points toward the unrepentant one. The three-bar form itself is attested from the 6th century and is used across Eastern Orthodoxy generally, but it's most consistently identified today with Russian Orthodoxy specifically, standardized on Russian church domes as far back as the 16th century — Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Romanian Orthodox churches more often use plain or two-bar crosses instead.
The three-bar cross itself, ready to paste.
How the Orthodox cross's three slanted bars compare to other named cross forms — useful if you're not sure which cross you're looking at.
Other faith symbols commonly searched and displayed alongside the Orthodox cross.
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The plain Latin cross of Christianity — and the dagger and ✕ it's mistaken for.
Another symbol with a real, documented history, reported without picking a side.