Symbols and patterns
Discover names and facts about different Celtic symbols and patterns below. Simply use the two galleries to find out more about the drawings. Click on the picture in the gallery to enlarge the picture and see the full description.
Read about the main theme in Celtic knotwork by clicking on the section 'What are Celtic knots?' in the top menu.
The name of the symbol means three-cornered and is one of the best known and most common Celtic knots. It is composed of three overlapping Vesica piscis symbols, pointy ovals, forming an eternal path. In Celtic knots, the number three is a focal number, but it's open for interpretation. For example, the holy trinity in Christianity stands for the three consubstantial persons represented by God: the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. click ->
-> A bit similar is the conviction that it means Mother, Crone and Maiden, whereas the interpretation ‘Body, Mind and Spirit’ is on a different level. This knot is a variation on the triquetra as it is similar except from the lobes. Any particular Celtic knot with no clear beginning or end is considered an eternity knot.
This type of knot adds a fifth element to the quaternary knot. The element can be viewed as a balance between the separate quadrants. For example, if the knot was to represent the four directions North, South, West and East, a fifth plausible addition could be ‘centre’.
The name of the symbol means three-cornered and is one of the best known and most common Celtic knots. It is composed of three overlapping Vesica piscis symbols, pointy ovals, forming an eternal path. In Celtic knots, the number three is a focal number, but it's open for interpretation. For example, the holy trinity in Christianity stands for the three consubstantial persons represented by God: the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. click ->
- Symbols -
- Knotwork patterns -
This T-shirt was printed for me by my family in Scotland as a gift to remember my time with them. They chose these Celtic knots, because at some point I drew them with one of the children. The one on the back above the two flags and the Celtic knot on the left sleeve were drawn by Olly.
This is the front of the T-shirt, which was decorated by two of my own drawings. Many ways of drawing a knotwork pattern were discovered. Aidan Meehan, for example, works with repetitive tiles and grids in his book Celtic Design Beginners Manual, so that larger patterns are formed. The knots on the T-shirt were drawn in a rather elementary manner of filling a grid with crossing pairs of ‘cord’.
By Courtney Davis
This T-shirt was printed for me by my family in Scotland as a gift to remember my time with them. They chose these Celtic knots, because at some point I drew them with one of the children. The one on the back above the two flags and the Celtic knot on the left sleeve were drawn by Olly.