Sooke, British Columbia

Symbols of the Holy Trinity

Circle

 

A circle is an endless line, having no beginning and no end, which
symbolizes eternity or God. Three entwined circles represent the
Trinity, with its three eternal and unified members

Borromean Rings

          

According to the Athanasian Creed we worship one God in Trinity,
and Trinity in unity and so Borromean rings have been used to represent
this idea. An association can be traced back to Saint Augustin of Hippo
(354-430). He described how three gold rings could be three rings but of
one substance. A now lost 13th century French manuscript described the
word "unitas" at the intersection of all rings and the three syllables of
"tri-ni-tas" distributed in the outer sectors.

Triangle

    

An equilateral triangle having all sides of equal length and each
angle equal represents one God in three Persons.
This is probably one of the earliest symbolic representations
of the Trinity.

Trefoil

         

This is a single design composed of three joined circles. It is believed
to be a stylized shamrock which St Patrick used to illustrate the
doctrine of the Trinity. It signifies one God in three Persons.

Triquetra

     

 An early Trinitarian design found especially in Great Britain,
its three equal arcs represent equality, its continuous line
expresses eternity, and the interweaving represents indivisibility.
It is suggested that the design is based on the sign of the fish known
to be used by early Christians.

Fleur-de-lis

  

A stylized lily, or iris, which represents several ideas, purity – hence
the Virgin Mary (one tradition claims it is the representation of the
tears shed by the mother of Jesus at his crucifixion), royalty because
it was adopted by the French kings and the Trinity because of its
three part shape.

Fish

 

Which is believed to be the first early Christian symbol is taken a stage
further by combining three fish within a basic triangular shape.
Each letter for "fish" (IXOYG) represented a key word related to the
identity of Christ. He was "Jesus Christ (IX), Son of God (OY), Saviour (G)."
 

Scutum Fidei or the Shield of the Trinity

   

This is described as “a traditional Christian visual symbol which
expresses many aspects of the doctrine of the Trinity (summarizing
the first part of the Athanasian Creed) in a compact diagram.
In medieval England and France this emblem was
considered to be the heraldic arms of God (or of the Trinity).”

The shield consists of four circles. The three outer containing the words
Father (Pater), Son (Filius) and Holy Spirit (Spiritus Sanctus). The centre
 circle contains the word God (Deus). The outer links contain the words
 “is not” (non est), whilst the inner links contain the word “is” (est).
The links are non-directional.

Source for the above information: http://www.holytrinityamblecote.org.uk/symbols.htm

For more information about the Scutum Fidei click here