The looped square (⌘), also known as Saint John's Arms, Saint Hannes cross (related to Swedish , Danish , and Finnish ), and as the command-key symbol due to its use on the

command key The Command key (sometimes abbreviated as Cmd key), , formerly also known as the Apple key or open Apple key, is a modifier key present on Apple keyboards. The Command key's purpose is to allow the user to enter keyboard commands in applica ...

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

computer keyboard A computer keyboard is a built-in or peripheral input device modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or Push-button, keys to act as Mechanical keyboard, mechanical levers or Electronic switching system, electro ...

s, is a symbol consisting of a square with outward pointing loops at its corners. It is referred to as a looped square, for example, in works regarding the

Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a collection of Native American societies that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building la ...

(approximately 800 CE to 1600 CE). It is also known as the place of interest sign when used on information signs, a practice that started in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in the 1950s, spreading to the other

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

in the 1960s. It is an ancient symbol used by several cultures, and remains in common use today. It belongs to a class of symbols which are called in Norway.

Ancient use

The symbol appears on a number of ancient objects in Northern Europe. It features prominently on a

picture stone A picture stone, image stone or figure stone is an ornate slab of stone, usually limestone, which was raised in Germanic Iron Age or Viking Age Scandinavia, and in the greatest number on Gotland.The article ''Bildstenar'' in ''Nationalencyklopedi ...

from Hablingbo,

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

, Sweden, that was created between 400 and 600 CE. It is also similar to a traditional

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

emblem called a

Bowen knot The Bowen knot (also known as the heraldic knot in symbolism) is not a true knot, but is rather a heraldic knot, sometimes used as a heraldic charge. It is named after the Welshman ''James Bowen'' (died 1629)Francis Jones: ''Bowen of Pentre Ifan ...

. In Finland, the symbol was painted or carved on houses and barns, and domestic utensils such as tableware, to protect them and their owners from evil spirits and bad luck. The oldest surviving example is a pair of 1000-year-old (Finnish pre-Christian period) wooden skis decorated with the symbol. The looped square also appears on artifacts of the

of the southeastern United States. While not a true knot, many depictions follow the convention for

heraldic knot A heraldic knot (referred to in heraldry as simply a knot) is a knot, unknot, or design incorporating a knot used in European heraldry. While a given knot can be used on more than one family's achievement of arms, the family on whose coat the k ...

s in that the crossings of the strand obey an under–over pattern.

Traditional names

The English names Saint John's Arms, Saint Hannes cross or Saint Hans's Cross as well as the Scandinavian names refer to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

. The connection is that the celebration of

Midsummer's Eve Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of European or ...

is a major festival in Scandinavia, which in the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

coincided with the Christian feast celebrating the

nativity of Saint John the Baptist Nativity or The Nativity may refer to: Birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus, the Gospel stories of the birth of Jesus Christ * Nativity of Jesus in art, any depiction of the nativity scene ** ''Nativity'' (Barocci), a 1597 painting by Fede ...

, and that the (pagan) symbol was associated with the Midsummer celebrations.

Modern use

In modern times, the symbol is commonly found in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

as an indicator of locations of cultural interest, beginning in Finland in the 1950s and spreading to the other

in the 1960s. There has been modern speculation that it was chosen for its resemblance to an aerial view of Borgholm Castle; however, as stated its use for attractions began in Finland, not Sweden, and the symbol is well-represented in Scandinavian artifacts that predate the current castle by centuries. The symbol later gained international recognition via

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

. It is used on

keyboards as the symbol for the

as well as in

elementary OS Elementary OS (stylized as elementary OS) is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu LTS. It promotes itself as a "thoughtful, capable, and ethical" replacement to macOS and Microsoft Windows, Windows and has a pay what you want, pay-what-you-wan ...

as the symbol for the Super key. The looped square is used in the logos of Belgian telecommunications company

Proximus Proximus (formerly known as Belgacom Mobile) is the largest of Belgium's three mobile telecommunications companies and is a part of Proximus Group (previously Belgacom Group). It competes with Orange Belgium and Base. History Proximus was f ...

and Canadian software company DistillerSR.

Encoding

Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...

, it is encoded at , in the block

Miscellaneous Technical Miscellaneous Technical is a Unicode block ranging from U+2300 to U+23FF. It contains various common symbols which are related to and used in the various technical, programming language, and academic professions. For example: * Symbol ⌂ (HTML ...

Gallery

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Looped squares Cross symbols Historical markers Traffic signs