The Celtic cross is a type of ringed cross, a Christian symbol with a ring around the center where the crossbar and vertical beam meet. It first appeared in Ireland and Britain during the Early Middle Ages. It became common in large stone crosses called high crosses, built in Ireland, Britain, and parts of France, especially in areas where Irish missionaries spread Christianity from the 9th to the 12th centuries.

Part of a style of art called Insular art, the Celtic cross is shaped like a Latin cross with a ring surrounding the center. Experts are unsure of its exact beginnings, but it is connected to older crosses that had rings. The design became popular again during the Celtic Revival in the 19th century, when the term "Celtic cross" was first widely used. Often decorated with intricate patterns from Insular art, the cross was used for monuments and other purposes, and its use has continued, spreading far beyond Ireland.

Early history

Ringed crosses similar to older designs from the Continent appeared in Ireland, England, and Scotland on carved stone slabs and objects like the Ardagh chalice. These crosses became most popular in large stone high crosses, a unique and common style of Insular art. These monuments, which first appeared around the ninth century, usually (but not always) have a ringed cross on a stepped or pyramid-shaped base. This design helps make the cross stronger by shortening the unsupported sides. Scholars have many ideas about where this style began in Ireland and Britain. Some believe the ring came from older wooden crosses that needed supports. Others think it was inspired by ancient Bronze Age art with a wheel or disc around a figure, or from early Coptic crosses shaped like the ankh. However, some researchers, like Michael W. Herren and Shirley Ann Brown, think the ring comes from earlier ringed crosses in Christian art. Crosses with a ring representing the sky were described by early church writers. The "cosmological cross" is an important symbol in a poem by Coelius Sedulius, which was known in Ireland by the seventh century.

It is unclear where the first high crosses began. The earliest examples are from about the ninth century and are found in two groups: one at Ahenny in Ireland, and another at Iona, an Irish monastery near the Scottish coast. The Ahenny group is usually older. However, it is possible that St. Johns Cross at Iona was the first high cross. Iona’s role as a pilgrimage site may have influenced other crosses, including those at Ahenny and Pictish stones.

Many crosses have writing in ogham, an early Irish alphabet. Standing crosses in Ireland and nearby areas are often shorter and heavier than those in Anglo-Saxon regions, which usually lack the top part. Irish crosses with a top in the shape of a cross include the Cross of Kells, Ardboe High Cross, the crosses at Monasterboice, the Cross of the Scriptures, Clonmacnoise, and those in Scotland at Iona and the Kildalton Cross, which may be the oldest surviving example. Other standing crosses are found in Cornwall, such as St. Piran’s cross at Perranporth, and in Wales. Stone crosses also exist in former Northumbria, Scotland, and southern England, where they mix with similar Anglo-Saxon designs, like the Ruthwell Cross. Most crosses in Britain were destroyed during the Protestant Reformation. By about A.D. 1200, the first major period of building crosses ended in Ireland.

Popular stories in Ireland say Saint Patrick or Saint Declan introduced the Christian cross, though no examples from this time exist. Some people believe Patrick combined the Christian symbol with the sun cross to help pagan followers understand its importance. By linking the cross to the sun’s life-giving power, these ideas were connected to appeal to pagans. Others think the circle on top of the cross shows Christ’s power over the sun.

• Ahenny, County Tipperary
• Ardboe, County Tyrone
• Carndonagh High Cross, County Donegal
• Drumcliff, County Sligo
• Dysert O’Dea Monastery, County Clare
• Glendalough, County Wicklow (St. Kevin’s Cross)
• Killamery, County Kilkenny
• Kloster Fahan, County Donegal
• Monasterboice, County Louth
• Clonmacnoise Cross of the Scriptures, County Offaly
• Moone, County Kildare

• Campbeltown Cross
• Iona Abbey Crosses
• Inchbraoch Cross
• Kildalton Cross
• Massacre of Glencoe Monument
• Meigle 1 Cross
• St. Martin’s Cross at Iona Abbey
• St. Gordian’s Kirk Cross
• Govan Old Parish Church Cross
• Weem, Aberfeldy

• Mateer Memorial Church, Kerala, India

• Celtic cross of Lugasson, France
• Early crosses at Clonmacnoise, Ireland
• Kingswood war memorial, Surrey, England
• A high cross at Monasterboice, Ireland
• Modern Celtic cross of a war monument, Limburg-Dietkirchen, Germany
• Modern Celtic cross at Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, Paris
• Ansgars Cross (to Ansgar), Birka, Sweden
• Celtic crosses in a cemetery near Beaufort, County Kerry, Ireland

Modern times

The Celtic Revival of the mid-1800s led to more use and creation of Celtic crosses in Ireland. In 1853, copies of several old high crosses were shown at the Dublin Industrial Exhibition. In 1857, Henry O'Neill published a book called Illustrations of the Most Interesting of the Sculptured Crosses of Ancient Ireland. These events increased interest in the Celtic cross as a symbol of renewed heritage in Ireland.

New designs of high crosses were made for cemetery monuments in Victorian Dublin during the 1860s. From Dublin, the revival spread to other parts of Ireland and beyond. Since the Celtic Revival, the ringed cross became a symbol of Celtic identity, along with its traditional religious meaning.

Modern interest in the symbol grew because of Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie. They worked on the island of Iona in Scotland from 1899 to 1940 and helped make the Celtic cross popular in jewelry. Since the 1850s, the Celtic cross has been used widely as grave markers, different from its medieval use, when it was usually for public monuments. Today, the Celtic cross appears in many retail items. Both the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Northern Ireland national football team have used versions of the Celtic cross in their logos and advertising. The Church in Wales has used a flag with a Celtic cross since 1954.

Examples of flags and symbols that include the Celtic cross are:
• Flag of the Church in Wales
• Flag of the Isle of Skye
• Flag of Staining, Lancashire
• Flag of Irish Heritage Quebec
• Flag of Rathmines and Rathgar Urban District Council (1929–1930)
• Flag of the 31st International Eucharistic Congress (1932)
• Flag of Bleimor (c.1946–1962)
• Proposed flag of Ireland (1951)
• United States Department of Veterans Affairs headstone emblem 41
• United States Department of Veterans Affairs headstone emblem 46
• Proposed flag of Cumbria (2025)

A version of the Celtic cross is used by white supremacist groups. It was used by Nazis in Norway during the 1930s and 1940s. More recently, it has been used by neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and other white supremacist groups. White supremacists often use a square cross instead of the traditional long cross. This symbol is part of the logo of Stormfront.

It is suggested that the use of the Celtic cross in right-wing politics is linked to the work of Jesuit priest Paul Doncœur, a leader in the interwar scout movement in France. In 1924, after a political victory by anti-clerical groups, Doncœur helped form the Fédération Nationale Catholique and Ligue DRAC. Inspired by a German Catholic youth group, he created a local group called Cadets. Doncœur, influenced by the book The Ball and the Cross by G. K. Chesterton, designed the symbol croix cadet, which includes a circle and a square cross.

After France fell in World War II, the Vichy government used existing groups to promote its youth policies. The symbol croix celtique became the emblem for Cadets of the Légion in Algeria, part of a veteran organization. Later, it was used by Equipes nationales, a youth service group. After the war, the symbol was used by the far-right group Jeune Nation, founded in 1949.

White supremacist use of the Celtic cross is a small part of its overall use. The symbol is also used by non-extremists in contexts like Christianity, neo-Paganism, and Irish patriotism. According to the American Anti-Defamation League, the Celtic cross itself does not mean white supremacy.

Examples of symbols associated with white supremacists include:
• A Celtic cross flag used by white supremacists
• Neo-Nazi Celtic cross flag
• White Pride World Wide symbol, logo of Stormfront
• National-anarchist star

The Unicode code point for this symbol is U+1F548 🕈 CELTIC CROSS.