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Created page with "{{short description|Various symbols with three-fold rotational symmetry}} {{about|shapes with three-fold rotational symmetry}} thumb|Neolithic triple spiral symbol A '''triskelion''' or '''triskeles''' is an ancient motif consisting of a '''triple spiral''' exhibiting rotational symmetry or other patterns in triplicate that emanate from a common center. The spiral design can be based on interlocking ..."

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{{short description|Various symbols with three-fold rotational symmetry}}
{{about|shapes with three-fold rotational symmetry}}

[[File:Triple-Spiral-Symbol.svg|thumb|Neolithic triple spiral symbol]]

A '''triskelion''' or '''triskeles''' is an [[ancient]] [[Motif (visual arts)|motif]] consisting of a '''triple spiral''' exhibiting [[rotational symmetry]] or other patterns in triplicate that emanate from a common center.
The spiral design can be based on interlocking [[Archimedean spiral]]s, or represent three bent human legs. It is found in artifacts of the European [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]] with continuation into the [[Iron Age]] especially in the context of the [[La Tène culture]]{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} and related [[Celtic peoples|Celtic]] traditions.
The actual ''triskeles'' symbol of three human legs is found especially in [[Ancient Greece|Greek antiquity]], beginning in [[Archaic Greece|archaic]] pottery and continued in [[Ancient Greek coinage|coinage]] of the [[Classical Greece|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 {{circa|382}} [[Common Era|BCE]].<ref>Arthur Bernard Cook, ''Zeus: a study in ancient religion'', Volume 3, Part 2 (1940), p. 1074.</ref>
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').<ref>Adopted in 1932, the [[flag of the Isle of Man]] is derived from the arms of the [[King of Mann]] recorded in the 13th century.</ref>

Greek {{lang|grc|τρισκελής}} (''triskelḗs'') means 'three-legged'.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dtriskelh%2Fs τρισκελής], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on [[Perseus Digital Library]]; from τρι- (''tri-''), "three times" ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dtri- τρι-] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004181219/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dtri- |date=2012-10-04 }}, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library) and "σκέλος" (''skelos''), "leg ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dske%2Flos σκέλος], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library)</ref>
While the Greek adjective {{lang|grc|τρισκελής}} 'three-legged (e.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 {{lang|fr|triskèle}},<ref name=Luynes83>Honore-Theodoric-Paul-Joseph d'Albert de Luynes, ''Etudes numismatiques sur quelques types relatifs au culte d'Hecate'' (1835), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ssylqnh2GXYC&pg=PA83 83f.]</ref> and adopted in the spelling ''triskeles'' following Otto Olshausen (1886).<ref>Johannes Maringer, "Das Triskeles in der vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Kunst", ''Anthropos'' 74.3/4 (1979), pp. 566-576</ref>
The form ''triskelion'' (as it were Greek {{lang|grc|τρισκέλιον}}<ref>Classical Greek does not have {{lang|grc|*τρισκέλιον}}, but the form {{Lang|grc|τρισκελίδιον}} 'small tripod' is on record as the diminutive of {{lang|grc|τρισκελίς}} 'three-pronged'. The form {{lang|el|τρισκέλιον}} does exist in [[Katharevousa]], however, as the term for a small three-legged chair or table (and also of the "[[Cross-multiplication#Rule of Three|Rule of Three]]" in elementary arithmetic or generally of an analogy). [[Adamantios Korais]], '' Atakta'' (Modern Greek Dictionary), vol. 5 (1835), [https://books.google.com/books?id=k7c-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54].</ref>) is a diminutive which entered English usage in [[numismatics]] in the late 19th century.<ref>Barclay Vincent Head, ''A Guide to the Principal Gold and Silver Coins of the Ancients: From Circ. B.C. 700 to A.D. 1'', British Museum. Department of Coins and Medals
, The Trustees, 1881, pp. 23, 67f.</ref><ref>English ''triskelion'' is recorded in 1880 ([[etymonline.com]]); the form ''triskele'' in English is occasionally found beginning in c. 1885 (e.g. in ''Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool'' 39, 1885, p. 220), presumably as a direct representation of the French form ''triskèle''.</ref>
The form consisting of three human legs (as opposed to the triple spiral) has also been called a "[[triquetra]] of legs", also ''triskelos'' or ''triskel''.<ref>[[Samuel Birch (Egyptologist)|Samuel Birch]], [[Charles Thomas Newton]], ''A Catalogue of the Greek and Etruscan Vases in the British Museum'' vol. 1 (1851), [https://books.google.com/books?id=qU0VAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA61 p. 61].
Samuel Birch, ''History of Ancient Pottery'' vol. 1 (1858), [https://books.google.com/books?id=pbwiNnFR5lEC&pg=PA164 p. 164].
Birch's use of ''triskelos'' is informed by the Duc de Luynes' ''triskèle'', and it continues to see some use alongside the better-formed ''triskeles'' into the 20th century in both English and German, e.g. in a 1932 lecture by [[C. G. Jung]] (lecture of 26 October, edited in ''The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1932''. 1996, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-nKNaXCYlQC&pg=PA43 43ff.]).</ref>

==Use in European antiquity==

===Neolithic to Iron Age===
[[File:Celtic spiral.jpg|thumb|220x220px|5,000 year-old triskelion on an [[orthostat]] at [[Newgrange]]]]
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,<ref name="knowth.com">{{cite web|url=http://knowth.com/newgrange.htm |title=Newgrange Ireland - Megalithic Passage Tomb - World Heritage Site |publisher=Knowth.com |date=2007-12-21 |access-date=2013-08-16}}</ref> as well as on [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] vessels. The [[Neolithic]] era symbol of three conjoined spirals may have had triple significance similar to the imagery that lies behind the triskelion.<ref>Anthony Murphy and Richard Moore, ''Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers,'' 2nd ed., Dublin: The Liffey Press, 2008, pp. 168–169</ref> It is carved into the rock of a stone [[Lozenge (shape)|lozenge]] near the main entrance of the prehistoric [[Newgrange]] monument in [[County Meath]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]].<ref name="knowth.com"/> It also appears on a 1st century BC [[dolmen]] tomb in Rathkenny, County Meath.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Raftery |first1=Joseph |title=Early Iron Age Decoration on the Dolmen at Rathkenny, Co. Meath |journal=Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society |year=1939 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=258–261 |doi=10.2307/27728510 |jstor=27728510 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27728510}}</ref>

There is also an example of a Triskele on a stone fragment that was discovered in Gloucestershire, currently held by the British museum thought to date from the period from the Neolithic period up to Bronze age.<ref>{{Cite web |title=artefact {{!}} British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1939-0602-1 |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=The British Museum |language=en}}</ref>

The triskelion was a motif in the art of the Iron age Celtic [[La Tène culture]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harding |first1=D.W. |title=The Archaeology of Celtic Art |date=2007 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=15}}</ref>

===Classical Antiquity===
[[File:001-syracuse-Triskeles.jpg|thumb|Silver Drachma from Sicily, minted during the reign of [[Agathocles of Syracuse|Agathocles]] (361–289 BCE), [[Greeks|Greek]] [[tyrant]] of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] (317–289 BCE) and king of [[Sicily]] (304–289 BCE). Inscription: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ ("Syrakosion") Laureate head of the youthful Ares to left; behind, Palladion. Reverse: [[Triskeles]] of three human legs with winged feet; at the center, [[Gorgoneion]]]]
The ''triskeles'' proper, composed of three human legs, is younger than the triple spiral, found in decorations on [[Pottery of ancient Greece|Greek pottery]]
especially as a design shown on [[Hoplite#Shield|hoplite shield]]s, and later also minted on Greek and Anatolian [[Ancient Greek coinage|coinage]].
An early example is found on the shield of [[Achilles]] in an Attic ''[[hydria]]'' of the late 6th century BCE.<ref>[[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.</ref>
It is found on coinage in [[Lycia]], and on [[stater]]s 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.{{Citation needed|reason=Modern corn didn't exist in Ancient Greece.|date=October 2021}}
From this, he reconstructed feminine divine triad which he identified with the "triple goddess" [[Hecate]].<ref name=Luynes83/><ref>{{Cite web |last=azim24 |date=2021-06-19 |title=Study : Other Religious Symbols in Islamic Art and Architecture Part 3 : The Triskelion |url=https://starsinsymmetry.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/study-other-religious-symbols-in-islamic-art-and-architecture-part-3-the-triskelion/ |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=Stars in Symmetry |language=en}}</ref>

{{anchor|Sicily}}
The triskeles was adopted as emblem by the rulers of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]]. It is possible that this usage is related with the Greek name of the island of [[Sicily]], ''Trinacria'' (Τρινακρία 'having three headlands').<ref>Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon (A Lexicon Abridged from), Oxford, 1944, p.27, Cassell's Latin Dictionary, Marchant, J.R.V, & Charles, Joseph F., (Eds.), Revised Edition, 1928</ref>
The Sicilian triskeles is shown with the [[Gorgoneion|head of Medusa]] at the center.<ref name="naples">Matthews, Jeff (2005) [http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/symbols.htm Symbols of Naples] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030202145/http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/symbols.htm |date=2009-10-30 }}</ref>
The ancient symbol has been re-introduced in modern [[flag of Sicily|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 civilization|Minoan-Mycenaean]] origin.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Trinacria: meaning and history of the Sicilian Triskele|date=12 January 2022 |url=https://www.giuseppegallo.design/design-and-communication/meaning-and-history-of-the-sicilian-triskele/}}</ref>

===Roman period and Late Antiquity===
Late examples of the triple spiral symbols are found in [[Iron Age Europe]], e.g. [[petroglyph|carved in rock]] in [[Castro Culture]] settlement in [[Galicia (Spain)|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).{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:2009-03-22 03-29 Sizilien 683 Agrigent, Parco Valle dei Templi Agrigento, Museo Archaeologico.jpg|Triskelion of Sicily of the Minoan period
File:Ancient greek beaked jug decorated with triple spirals.jpg|Late Helladic (14th century BCE) beaked jug decorated with triple spirals
File:6257 - Archaeological Museum, Athens - Gold cup from Mycenae - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 10 2009.jpg|Gold cup from [[Mycenae]] decorated with triskelions
File:Trisquel da Aira Vella, Santo Estevo de Allariz, Allariz.jpg|Iron Age [[Castro culture]] triskele, reused in a barn. Airavella, [[Allariz]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]
File:Torque de Santa Tegra 1.JPG|Triskelion and spirals on a Galician [[torc]] terminal.
</gallery>

==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 [[heraldic charge|charge]] in [[history of heraldry|late medieval heraldry]], notably as the arms of the [[King of Mann]] ([[Armorial Wijnbergen]], {{circa|1280}}), and as [[canting arms]] in the city seal of the Bavarian city of [[Füssen]] (dated 1317).

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Triskel-triskele-triquetre-triscel VAN DEN HENDE ALAIN CC-BY-SA-40 0718 PDP BG 007.jpg|Triskèle [[Saint-Marcellin, Isère|Saint-Marcellin]] (in [[Isère]] / [[France]])
File:Triskel_et_Biskel_-_Saint_Antoine_l_Abbaye_-_Alain_Van_den_Hende_17071627_Licence_CC40.jpg|On the front of Abbatial church of [[Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye]] with 2 groups of 2 triskelions and 1 biskel (in [[Isère]] / [[France]])
File:Triskele karja church.jpg|Mural depicting a triskelion on the ceiling of [[Karja church]] in [[Saaremaa]], [[Estonia]]
File:Coa Illustration Elements Triskelion Arms.svg|Tremayne family triskelion arms
</gallery>

==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).<ref>Charles Norton Elvin, ''A Dictionary of Heraldry'' (1889), [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofhera00elvi/page/126/ p. 126].
</ref>
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.

In the Bavarian town of [[Füssen]], Germany the flag and coat of arms of the town contains a triskele,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shoham |first1=Schlomo Giora |title=An Existentialist Theory of the Human Spirit (Volume 1) |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |page=460}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chwalkowski |first1=Farrin |title=Symbols in Arts, Religion and Culture The Soul of Nature |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge Scholarly Publishing |page=105}}</ref> as does the [[Flag of Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug|flag of the Russian autonomous region of Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rogerson |first1=Barnaby |title=Rogerson's Book of Numbers The Culture of Numbers from 1001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World |date=2013 |publisher=Profile Books |page=253}}</ref>

In [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], the triskelion is displayed in hospitals and care centres to indicate that a patient is dying or has died.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hiliard |first=Carol |date=2023-09-13 |title=End of Life Care Committee |url=https://media.childrenshealthireland.ie/documents/End-of-Life-Symbol.pdf |access-date=2023-09-13 |website=Children's Health Ireland}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Hospice |date=2023-09-13 |title=End of Life Care Resources |url=https://hospicefoundation.ie/our-supports-services/healthcare-hub/hospice-friendly-hospitals/end-of-life-care-resources/ |access-date=2023-09-13 |website=Irish Hospice Foundation}}</ref> It is based on the historical use of the triskele in [[Gaelic Ireland|celtic Ireland]] and it is used as an alternative to religious imagery. In this context, the three spirals represent the cycle of birth, life and death.<ref name=":0" />

The spiral is used by some [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|polytheistic reconstructionist]] or [[Neopaganism|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]].<ref name="Bonewits">Bonewits, Isaac (2006) ''Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism''. New York, [[Kensington Books|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 [[triple spiral|spirals]]"</ref>

Other uses of triskelion-like emblems include the logo for the [[Trisquel]] [[Linux distribution]] and the seal of the [[United States Department of Transportation]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nCFYdB2H05UC&q=United+States+Department+of+Transportation+triskelion&pg=PA144|title=Air Transportation|first=Robert M.|last=Kane|date=1 January 2019|publisher=Kendall Hunt|isbn=9780787288815|via=Google Books}}</ref>

A specific version of the triskele comprising three sevens has been adopted by neo-nazis. In South Africa the [[Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging]] (AWB), an [[Afrikaner nationalism|Afrikaner nationalist]], neo-Nazi organization and political party (founded 1973), uses it as its symbol in place of a [[swastika]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Vikings and the Vikings Essays on Television's History Channel Series |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland |page=216}}</ref> The [[Blood & Honour]] neo-Nazi group also uses it.<ref>{{cite book |title=Right-wing extremism: Symbols, signs and banned organisations |publisher=[[Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution]] |page=30 |url=https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/publikationen/EN/right-wing-extremism/2022-07-right-wing-extremism-symbols-and-organisations.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=12}}</ref> The [[27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck]]'s shoulder strap cipher was a triskele (though not involving sevens).<ref name=vd>{{cite book |title=Right-wing extremism: Symbols, signs and banned organisations |publisher=[[Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution]] |page=83 |url=https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/publikationen/EN/right-wing-extremism/2022-07-right-wing-extremism-symbols-and-organisations.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=12}}</ref> Use of the triskele can be a prosecutable offence under German law, depending on the context in which it is used.<ref name=vd/>

<gallery widths="180" heights="180" perrow="4">
File:Flag of the Isle of Mann.svg|[[Flag of the Isle of Man]]
File:Sicilian Flag.svg|[[Flag of Sicily]], with the triskeles-and-[[Gorgoneion]] symbol
File:Flag of Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug.svg|Flag of [[Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug]]
File:Flag of Ingushetia.svg|[[Flag of Ingushetia]]
File:27. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division „Langemarck“ (1. flämische).svg|Emblem of the [[27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck]]
File:Flag of the Afrikaner-Weerstandsbeweging.svg|Flag of [[Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging]]
File:End-of-Life symbol Ireland.jpg|The triskelion is used as an end-of-life symbol in the Irish healthcare system.
</gallery>

==Occurrence in nature==
The [[boric acid]] molecule is triskelion-shaped as seen in the image. The [[molecular symmetry|molecular point group]] of triskelion-shaped molecules is ''C''<sub>3h</sub>.<ref>{{Greenwood&Earnshaw2nd|page=1291}}</ref><ref>{{Housecroft3rd|pages=94–99}}</ref> The endocytic protein, [[clathrin]], is triskelion-shaped, as well as the [[Ediacaran biota|Ediacaran organism]] [[Tribrachidium]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/potm/2007_4/Page1.htm|title = InterPro}}</ref>

<gallery widths="160" heights="160">
Boric-acid-2D.svg|A molecule of [[boric acid]]
Tribrachidium_heraldicum_トリブラキディウム_ヘラルディキウム_24mm.jpg|The Edicaran organism [[Tribrachidium]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Buer (demon)]]
* [[Caltrop]]
* [[Mitsudomoe]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}

{{Celts}}
{{Sicily}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Iconography]]
[[Category:Ornaments]]
[[Category:Rotational symmetry]]
[[Category:Symbols]]
[[Category:Symmetry]]
[[Category:Heraldic charges]]
[[Category:Visual motifs]]
[[Category:Early Germanic symbols]]

Triskelis - Revision history