The Chi Rho or “soldier’s cross”
Chi and Rho are the first two letters of the word Christos (Christ) in Greek – ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ. The Chi Rho is sometimes called the Monogram of Christ or Chrismon; it is also known as labarum – the soldier’s cross.
The origin of the Chi Rho is generally attributed to the Roman emperor Constantine. According to the early church father Eusebius,
On 28th October 312, before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine “…saw with his own eyes, up in the sky and resting over the sun, a cross-shaped trophy formed from light, and a text attached to it which said ‘By this conquer.’ ”
He saw the shape of a flaming cross, “a long spear, overlaid with gold. . . “on the top of the whole was fixed a wreath of gold and precious stones, and within this the symbol of the Saviour’s name, two letters indicating the name of Christ by means of the initial letters, the letter ‘X’ intersection ‘P’ at the centre.”
“The emperor constantly made use of this sign of salvation as a safeguard against every adverse and hostile power, and commanded that others similar to it should be carried at the head of all his armies.”
There are alternative theories of the origin of the Chi Rho, most based on modifications of pagan symbols. But regardless of its exact origin, the fact is that there is no record of the Chi Rho being used before Constantine, and it became a commonly used Christian symbol after that, especially by soldiers. After the fall of Rome, the “soldier’s cross” came to represent spiritual warfare as well.
Here is an image of the Chi Rho marking Christian tombs in the catacombs:
On a 5th-century bishop’s gravestone:
As a monogram in the illuminated Book of Kells produced by Celtic monks about 800 AD:
In contemporary liturgical use:
The Chi Rho has been stylized any number of ways over the centuries. Sometimes the P is formed to accentuate its appearance as a sword handle. Sometimes it is formed to look like a shepherd’s crook, to emphasize Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
The Chi Rho is even encoded in Unicode and can be made on a computer keyboard! It is encoded at U+2627: ☧
The Chi Rho is a wonderful symbol with a long history of faith, and its origins make it particularly appropriate for men. See all the Chi Rho items available at CelebrateYourFaith.com.
Tags: symbols