Arrow Cross

An Arrow Cross, or Cross Barby

A cross whose arms end in arrowheads is called a "cross barby" or "cross barbee" in the traditional terminology of heraldry. In Christian use, the ends of this cross resemble the barbs of fish hooks, or fish spears. This alludes to the Ichthys symbol of Christ, and is suggestive of the "fishers of men" theme in the Gospel.

In modern use, the symbol has become associated with extremist organisations after the Arrow Cross (Nyilaskereszt) symbol was used in Hungary in the 1930s and 1940s as the symbol of a Hungarian National Socialist political party, the Arrow Cross Party.^[1] The symbol consists of two green double-ended arrows in a cross configuration on a white circular background, much like the German Nazi swastika. The arrow cross symbol remains outlawed in Hungary.^[2]

A similar symbol, the Crosstar, is now used by the Nationalist Movement, a white supremacist group based in the United States.

See also

• Arrow Cross Party

References

1. Arrow Cross Symbols Archived May 25, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
2. European Court of Civil Rights Case of Vajnai v. Hungary, "The use of totalitarian symbols: “(1) A person who (a) disseminates, (b) uses in public or (c) exhibits a swastika, an SS-badge, an arrow-cross, a symbol of the sickle and hammer or a red star, or a symbol depicting any of them, commits a misdemeanour..." Archived April 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.