A cross whose arms end in arrowheads is called a "cross barby" or "cross barbée" in the traditional terminology of

heraldry 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, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

. In

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

use, the ends of this cross resemble the barbs of fish hooks, or fish spears. In modern use, the symbol has become associated with extremist organisations after the Arrow Cross (''Nyilaskereszt'') symbol was used in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in the 1930s and 1940s as the symbol of a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

Hungarist

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

political party, the

Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party (, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National Unity. They were in power from 15 October 1944 to ...

, led by

Ferenc Szálasi Ferenc Szálasi (; 6 January 1897 – 12 March 1946) was a Hungarian military officer, politician, Nazi sympathizer and founder of the far-right Arrow Cross Party who List of prime ministers of Hungary, headed the government of Hungary duri ...

, and of this party's thuggish

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

organization. The symbol consists of two green double-ended arrows in a cross configuration on a white circular background on a red background. The arrow cross symbol remains outlawed in Hungary. A variant symbol, the Crosstar — is used by the Nationalist Movement, a

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

group based in the United States. Similar symbol, modified version of the Portuguese Cross (inverted triangular edges) used by the former Brazilian Patrianovist Imperial Action from 1928 to 1937. The arrow cross was previously used by the '' Falange Venezolana'' (Venezuelan Phalanx), a far-right group based in Venezuela.

References

{{Hungarian fascism Christian crosses Fascism in Hungary Fascist symbols

See also

References