Triskelion

A triskelion or triskeles is an ancient motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry.
The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs. It is found in artefacts of the European Neolithic and Bronze Age with continuation into the Iron Age especially in the context of the La Tène culture and related Celtic traditions.
The actual ''triskeles'' symbol of three human legs is found especially in Greek antiquity, beginning in archaic pottery and continued in coinage of the classical period.

In the Hellenistic period, the symbol becomes associated with the island of Sicily, appearing on coins minted under Dionysius I of Syracuse beginning in BCE.
It later appears in heraldry, and, other than in the flag of Sicily, came to be used in the flag of the Isle of Man (known as ''ny tree cassyn'' "the three legs").

Greek (''triskelḗs'') means "three-legged".
While the Greek adjective "three-legged .g. of a table is ancient, use of the term for the symbol is modern, introduced in 1835 by Honoré Théodoric d'Albert de Luynes as French ,Honore-Theodoric-Paul-Joseph d'Albert de Luynes, ''Etudes numismatiques sur quelques types relatifs au culte d'Hecate'' (1835)
83f.
/ref> and adopted in the spelling ''triskeles'' following Otto Olshausen (1886).
The form ''triskelion'' (as it were Greek ) is a diminutive which entered English usage in numismatics in the late 19th century.
The form consisting of three human legs (as opposed to the triple spiral) has also been called a "triquetra of legs" or ''triskelos'', ''triskel''.

Use in European antiquity

Neolithic to Bronze Age

The triple spiral symbol, or three spiral volute, appears in many early cultures, the first in Malta (4400–3600 BCE) and in the astronomical calendar at the famous megalithic tomb of Newgrange in Ireland built around 3200 BCE, as well as on Mycenaean vessels. The Neolithic era symbol of three conjoined spirals may have had triple significance similar to the imagery that lies behind the triskelion. It is carved into the rock of a stone lozenge near the main entrance of the prehistoric Newgrange monument in County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange, which was built around 3200 BCE.

Classical Antiquity

The ''triskeles'' proper, composed of three human legs, is younger than the triple spiral, found in decorations on Greek pottery
especially as a design shown on hoplite shields, and later also minted on Greek and Anatolian coinage.
An early example is found on the shield of Achilles in an Attic ''hydria'' of the late 6th century BCE.
It is found on coinage in Lycia, and on staters of Pamphylia (at Aspendos, 370–333 BCE) and Pisidia. The meaning of the Greek triskeles is not recorded directly.
The Duc de Luynes in his 1835 study noted the co-occurrence of the symbol with the eagle, the cockerel, the head of Medusa, Perseus, three crescent moons, three ears of corn, and three grains of corn.
From this, he reconstructed feminine divine triad which he identified with the "triple goddess" Hecate.

The triskeles was adopted as emblem by the rulers of Syracuse. It is possible that this usage is related with the Greek name of the island of Sicily, ''Trinacria'' (Τρινακρία "having three headlands").
The Sicilian triskeles is shown with the head of Medusa at the center.Matthews, Jeff (2005
Symbols of Naples

The ancient symbol has been re-introduced in modern flags of Sicily since 1848. The oldest find of a triskeles in Sicily is a vase dated to 700 BCE, for which researchers assume a Minoan-Mycenaean origin.

Roman period and Late Antiquity

Late examples of the triple spiral symbols are found in Iron Age Europe, e.g. carved in rock in Castro Culture settlement in Galicia, Asturias and Northern Portugal.
In Ireland before the 5th century, in Celtic Christianity the symbol took on new meaning, as a symbol of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

Medieval use

The triple spiral design is found as a decorative element in Gothic architecture. The three legs (triskeles) symbol is rarely found as a charge in late medieval heraldry, notably as the arms of the King of Mann (Armorial Wijnbergen, ), and as canting arms in the city seal of the Bavarian city of Füssen (dated 1317).

Modern usage

The triskeles was included in the design of the Army Gold Medal awarded to British Army majors and above who had taken a key part in the Battle of Maida (1806).
An early flag of Sicily, proposed in 1848, included the Sicilian triskeles or "Trinacria symbol".
Later versions of Sicilian flags have retained the emblem, including the one officially adopted in 2000.
The Flag of the Isle of Man (1932) shows a heraldic design of a triskeles of three armoured legs.

The spiral is used by some polytheistic reconstructionist or neopagan groups. As a "Celtic symbol", it is used primarily by groups with a Celtic cultural orientation and, less frequently, can also be found in use by various eclectic or syncretic traditions such as Neopaganism. The spiral triskele is one of the primary symbols of Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism, used to represent a variety of triplicities in cosmology and theology; it is also a favored symbol due to its association with the god Manannán mac Lir.Bonewits, Isaac (2006) ''Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism''. New York, Kensington Publishing Group . p. 132: mong Celtic Reconstructionists"...''An Thríbhís Mhòr'' (the great triple spiral) came into common use to refer to the three realms." Also p. 134: n CRs"Using Celtic symbols such as triskeles and spirals

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