A Christogram is a monogram or combination of letters which forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, and is traditionally used as a Christian symbol. A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other Graphemes to form one Symbol. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed " Christian symbolism is defined as the investing of outward things or actions with an inner meaning the expression of Christian ideas Different types of Christograms are associated with the various traditions of Christianity. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings

Eastern Orthodoxy

Icon of Christ Pantokrator with the Christogram IC XC on either side of Christ's head. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Meaning The most common translation of Pantocrator is "Almighty" or "All-powerful

In Eastern Orthodoxy, the most widely used Christogram is a four-letter abbreviation ICXC — a traditional abbreviation of the Greek words for "Jesus Christ" (i. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly e. , the first and last letters of each of the words ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ — written "IHCOYC XPICTOC" with a transliteration of the lunate sigma common in medieval Greek as "C"). Sigma (upper case Σ, lower case σ; Greek Σιγμα lower case in word-final position ς) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek On icons this christogram may be split: "IC" on the left of the image and "XC" on the right, most often with a bar above the letters (see titlos), indicating that it was a sacred name. Titlo is an extended Diacritic symbol first used in Old Cyrillic manuscripts e It is sometimes rendered as "ICXC NIKA", meaning "Jesus Christ Conquers. "

"ICXC" may also be seen inscribed on the Ichthys. Ichthys or Ichthus Greek: grc ἰχθύς capitalized grc ΙΧΘΥΣ also transliterated and Latinized as ichthys, In the traditional Orthodox icon of Christ Pantokrator, Christ's right hand is shown in a pose that represents the letters IC, X and C. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Meaning The most common translation of Pantocrator is "Almighty" or "All-powerful

Western Christianity

IHS on a gravestone

In the Latin-speaking Christianity of medieval Western Europe (and so among Catholics and many Protestants today), the most common Christogram is "IHS" or "IHC", derived from the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus, iota-eta-sigma or ΙΗΣ. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Iota (uppercase &Iota, lowercase ι Ιώτα Yota is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. Eta (uppercase &Eta, lowercase η Ήτα) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet. Sigma (upper case Σ, lower case σ; Greek Σιγμα lower case in word-final position ς) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek Here the Greek letter eta was transliterated as the letter H in the Latin-speaking West (Greek eta and Latin-alphabet H had the same visual appearance and shared a common historical origin), while the Greek letter sigma was either transliterated as the Latin letter C (due to the visually-similar form of the lunate sigma), or as Latin S (since these letters of the two alphabets wrote the same sound). Because the Latin-alphabet letters I and J were not systematically distinguished until the 17th century, "JHS" and "JHC" are equivalent to "IHS" and "IHC".

"IHS" is sometimes interpreted as meaning Iesus Hominum Salvator ("Jesus, Savior of men", in Latin), or connected with In Hoc Signo. In hoc signo vinces is the rendition in Latin of the Greek phrase "εν τούτω νίκα" en toutōi nika, meaning "in this you will Some uses have even been created for the English language, where "IHS" is interpreted as an abbreviation of "I Have Suffered" or "In His Service". Such interpretations are known as backronyms. A backronym (or bacronym) is a Phrase that is constructed "after the fact" from a previously existing word or Abbreviation, the abbreviation Its use in the West originated with St. Bernardine of Siena, a 13th Century priest who popularized the use of the three letters on the background of a blazing sun to displace both popular pagan symbols and seals of political factions like the Guelphs and Ghibellines in public spaces.

One of the oldest Christograms is the Chi-Rho or Labarum. The Labarum (☧ was a military standard that displayed the first two Greek letters of the word " Christ " ( Greek: ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ or Χριστός It consists of the superimposed Greek letters Chi Χ; and Rho Ρ, which are the first two letters of christ in Greek. Chi ( Uppercase Χ, Lowercase χ; Χι He is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, pronounced as in English Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ϱ) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. Technically, the word labarum is Latin for a standard with a little flag hanging on it, used in the army. A Christogram was added to the flag as an image of the Greek letters Chi Rho, in the late Roman period. So Christogram and labarum are not originally synonyms.

The most commonly encountered Christogram in English-speaking countries in modern times is the X (or more accurately, Greek letter Chi) in the abbreviation Xmas (for "Christmas"), which represents the first letter of the word Christ. " Xmas " and " X-mas " are common abbreviations of the word " Christmas "

IHS or JHS Christogram of western Christianity

Medieval-style IHS monogram

Medieval-style IHC monogram

See also

• Christian symbolism
• Labarum
• Names and titles of Jesus
• Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus
• Jesus H. Christ
• Emblem of the Jesuits
• Chrismon
• Inri

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: IHS Monogram
• Holy Name of Jesus
• Sacred names
• IHS Monogram in Cemeteries

St. Bernardine of Siena