The Bolnisi cross ( ka, ბოლნური ჯვარი ) is a
cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
symbol, taken from a 5th-century ornament at the
Bolnisi Sioni
Bolnisi Sioni ( ka, ბოლნისის სიონი) or Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral is a Georgian Orthodox basilica in the Bolnisi village of Bolnisi District, Georgia. The cathedral was built in 478–493. It is the oldest extant church ...
church, which came to be used as a national symbol of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
It is a variant of the
Cross pattée
A cross pattée, cross patty or cross paty, also known as a cross formy or cross formée (french: croix pattée, german: Tatzenkreuz), is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight ...
popular in Christian symbolism of late antiquity and the early medieval period. The same symbol gave rise to cross variants used during the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
, the
Maltese cross
The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically.
It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...
of the
Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
and (via the
Jerusalem cross
The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold Cross", or "cross-and-crosslets") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each quadrant. It was used as the ...
and the
Black cross of the
Teutonic Order
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
) the
Iron cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...
used by the German military.
The four small crosses used in the
Georgian Flag are officially described as ''bolnur-kac'xuri'' (''bolnur-katskhuri'', ბოლნურ-კაცხური) even though they are only slightly ''pattée''.
See also
*
Grapevine cross
The grapevine cross (Georgian: ჯვარი ვაზისა, ''Jvari Vazisa''), also known as the Georgian cross or Saint Nino's cross, is a major symbol of the Georgian Orthodox Church and apocryphally dates from the 4th century AD, when ...
*
Christian cross variants
The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...
References
*Helen Machavariani: Bolnisi sionis samsheneblo carcera. Mecniereba, Tbilisi 1985
{{Georgia (country) topics
Cross symbols
Culture of Georgia (country)
Kvemo Kartli
Bolnisi