Triskelion
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A triskelion or triskele (both from the Greek τρισκέλιον or τρισκελής, for "three-legged") is a symbol consisting of three interlocked spirals, or three bent human legs, or any similar symbol with three protrusions and a threefold rotational symmetry.
A triskelion is the symbol of Brittany, as well as the Isle of Man and Sicily (where it is called trinacria[1]). The Manx and Sicilian triskelions feature three running legs, bent at the knee and conjoined at the crotch area.
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[edit] Origins
The triskelion symbol appears in many early cultures, including on Mycenaean vessels, on coinage in Lycia, and on staters of Pamphylia (at Aspendos, 370–333 BC) and Pisidia.[citation needed] It appears as a heraldic emblem on warriors' shields depicted on Greek pottery.[2] A symbol of four conjoined legs, a tetraskelion, is also known in Anatolia. Celtic influences in Anatolia, epitomized by the Gauls who invaded and settled Galatia, are especially noted by those who theorize a Celtic origin for the triskelion.[who?]
[edit] Manx triskelion
In the symbol for the Isle of Man, which is located in the Irish Sea, the "three legs embowed" of the heraldic triskelion are represented in armour, "spurred and garnished or (gold)."
On Manx banknotes, the triskelion appears within a rim containing the Latin inscription QUOCUNQUE JECERIS STABIT ("Wherever you throw it, it stands"). The Manx triskelion is documented since the thirteenth or fourteenth century at the latest, and is alternatively known in the Manx language as the tre cassyn ("three legs"). The symbol appears on the Isle of Man's ancient Sword of State, which may have belonged to Olaf Godredson, who became King of the Sudreys (Southern Hebrides and the Isle of Man) in 1226.
[edit] Sicilian triskelion
Familiar as an ancient symbol of Sicily, the triskelion is also featured on Greek coins of Syracuse, such as coins of Agathocles (317-289 BCE). In Sicily, the first inhabitants mentioned in history are the tribes of the Sicani (Greek Sikanoi) and the Sicels (Greek Sikeloi), who gave Sicily its more familiar modern name. The triskelion was revived, as a neoclassic—and non-Bourbon—emblem for the new Napoleonic Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, by Joachim Murat in 1808.
The symbol dates back to when Sicily was part of Magna Graecia, the colonial extension of Greece beyond the Aegean.[3] Pliny the Elder attributes the origin of the triskelion of Sicily to the triangular form of the island, the ancient Trinacria, which consists of three large capes equidistant from each other, pointing in their respective directions, the names of which were Pelorus, Pachynus, and Lilybæum.
The three legs of the triskelion are also reminiscent of Hephaestus's three-legged tables that ran by themselves, as mentioned in Iliad xviii:
- "At the moment Hephaestus was busily
- Turning from bellows to bellows, sweating with toil
- As he laboured to finish a score of three-legged tables
- To stand around the sides of his firm-founded hall. On each
- Of the legs he had put a gold wheel, that those magic tables
- Might cause all to marvel by going with no other help
- To the gathering of gods and by likewise returning to his house."
[edit] Spiral triskele
The Celtic symbol of three conjoined spirals may have had triple significance similar to the imagery that lies behind the triskelion. The triple spiral motif is a Neolithic symbol in Western Europe. It is carved into the rock of a stone lozenge near the main entrance of the prehistoric Newgrange monument in County Meath, Ireland. A variant of the symbol is also found, carved into the wall in the inner chamber of the passage tomb. Because of its Celtic associations, it is also used as a symbol of Brittany (alongside the ermine).
 A version of the Neolithic triple spiral symbol. |
 Spiral triskele, found in Celtic artwork, used by Celtic Reconstructionists and occasionally as a Christian Trinitarian symbol. |
[edit] Modern uses
[edit] Modern cultural symbol
As recently as the late 60s and the 70s, the spiral triscele became very fashionable in Brittany, and, to some extent, in France and Spain, after Alan Stivell was wearing it around the neck on TV shows and magazines. The fashion has extended then to commercial, political and cultural fields, used in Brittany as one of the main symbols (for tourism, products, etc.).
In the north of Spain, the triskelion is used as a symbol of Galizan and Asturian nationalists. The triskele was used by Galician nationalists as early as 1930, although its use as a contemporary fashion icon only started during the Celtic revival of the 1970s. Currently, the Department of Agriculture of the devolved government of Galicia uses a triskele as its corporate logo.A similar symbol called lábaro by Cantabrian regionalist can be compared to the neighboring Basque culture's four-branched lauburu.
A triskelion shape is the basis for the roundel of the Irish Air Corps[4] (unique among air force roundels). It is loosely based on the Flag of Ireland and traditional Celtic triskele boss designs.
Similar shapes (called "sam tageuk" in Korea and "tomoe" in Japan) are used in some East Asian cultures (one version was part of the official logo of the 1988 Summer Olympics).
[edit] Reconstructionists and Neopagans
The triskele, usually consisting of spirals, but also the "horned triskelion", is used by some Polytheistic Reconstructionist and Neopagan groups. As a Celtic symbol, it is found primarily of groups with a Celtic cultural orientation and, less frequently, can also be found in use by some Germanic Neopagan groups and eclectic or syncretic traditions such as Wicca. The spiral triskele is one of the primary symbols of Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism.[5] Celtic Reconstructionists use the symbol to represent a variety of triplicities in their cosmology and theology; it is also a favored symbol due to its association with the god Manannán mac Lir.[5]
[edit] BDSM
A form of the triskelion has been proposed as a BDSM Emblem by some BDSM groups, partly based on a description in the Story of O. The specific emblem design is meant to be shown with metallic spokes and circle, and three holes (not dots) within the design.[citation needed]
[edit] Extremist uses
The Third Reich adopted a variation on the triskelion as the insignia for a Waffen-SS division composed of Belgian volunteers.
The South African white supremacist paramilitary group, the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), have used a flag consisting of a red background with a white circle. In the circle, three black sevens form a design distantly reminiscent of the triskelion. In spite of the similarities to the swastika (and the overall resemblance to the Nazi flag, both having a black symbol on a white disc on a red background), they claim their flag is inspired by a Biblical meaning of the seven, and the fact that the organisation was founded on the seventh day of the seventh month, 1973 (from which the three 7's can be extracted).[citation needed]
[edit] Popular culture
A fractal version of the triskelion, consisting of a large blue-silver raised dot with three curved arms of similar dots around it, is a major motif of the 2005 TV series Threshold. It is the symbol of the aliens who invade Earth.[citation needed] An episode of Star Trek, The Gamesters of Triskelion, takes place on the alien planet of Triskelion from Episode 16 of season 2. A Triskelion symbol was made into a fighting area.
A triskelion pattern forms part of the United States Department of Transportation. The three comma shapes represent air, land, and sea transportation. The seal was adopted on February 1, 1967.
[edit] Naturally occurring
- Clathrin, a protein involved in the formation of endocytic vesicles in most cells, has a triskelion shape.
[edit] Gallery
 Irish Air Corps Roundel. |
 Seal of the United States Department of Transportation. |
 Flag of the Ryukyu Islands from 1875 to 1879. |
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 A symbol closely resembling the BDSM emblem. |
 The flag of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging. |
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Triskelion |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.grifasi-sicilia.com/trinacria.htm
- ^ For example the trislele on Achilles' round shield on an Attic late sixth-century hydria at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, illustrated in John Boardman, Jasper Griffin and Oswyn Murray, Greece and the Hellenistic World (Oxford History of the Classical World) vol. I (1988), p.50.
- ^ Matthews, Jeff (2005) Symbols of Naples
- ^ The Aircraft Encyclopedia by Roy Braybrook, ISBN 0-671-55337-2, p. 51
- ^ a b Bonewits, Isaac (2006) Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism. New York, Kensington Publishing Group ISBN 0-8065-2710-2. p.132: [Among Celtic Reconstructionists] "...An Thríbhís Mhòr (the great triple spiral) came into common use to refer to the three realms." Also p. 134: [On CRs] "Using Celtic symbols such as triskeles and spirals"
[edit] External links
- Triskelion at symbols.com
- Triple spiral at symbols.com
- John Newton, "Armorial bearings of the Isle of Mann," in Manx Notebook, January 1886
- Peter Symes, "The Isle of Man and the Triskelion"
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