Celtic Symbols / Druid Symbols
Index of Celtic and pseudo-Celtic symbols, including Druid symbols, Irish and Scottish cultural images, Celtic knots, and more.
Questions? Just ask in the comments below and be sure to leave an email address.
Celtic Animals:
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| Bull | Boar | Serpent | Dragon | Deer | Crane |
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| Horse | Dog | Raven | Salmon |
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Ive been looking for the symbols for family and love and all the websites keep coming up different im 1/4 scottish and id love to incorporate them in a tattoo i have but i cant be sure i have the right one can someone help ?
I have been researching my heritage and have found mostly Scottish and Irish lineage. I want to find a symbol that is representative of this heritage that also means “healer” as I am studying to be a nurse. Any suggestions? Or links with websites that may help with my search?
Thank you!
I have wanted to get a tattoo of a shield knot for a while, but I have found another knot called the “Quaternary knot” and they appear to be the same, are they? Also, there are many different variations of the shield knot do they all mean the same thing?
Thanks.
They are pretty much all the same. Usage-wise, they may have been meaningful or decorative, like any shape. For tattoo purposes, you’re safe.
Do you have any info on the Quaternary knot, or is it just another name for the Shield knot?
It is the same, yes.
Thanks for your help, but how can I be sure you’re correct, sorry if I’m being pessimistic but a tattoo doesn’t come off and I don’t want to get a tattoo of something and later find out it is not what I thought it was.
Hello!
I’m interested in knowing more about one of the knot’s depicted above: the square with the four loops at each corner (second row, third one in). It’s listed as a shield knot. I was wondering how that classification was arrived at? Is it typically seen decorating shields or is it thought to be a more generic protective emblem? Really any info you can give me about it at all would be helpful and interesting. Thanks!
Hi Andrea- if you click on the image there is a detailed description, but yes, the latter meaning is correct. It is not a device for shields per se, but an apotropaic design. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume it may have been used on shields , or doors, etc., but I know of no examples.
Hey I am looking to get a tattoo of the celtic symbol that resembles inner strength, but every website I go to is showing a different design, which one is the actual design?
Hi Krystle, I’ve reposted your question and some thoughts here: http://symboldictionary.net/?page_id=3559
Hi I have been looking for inspiration for tattoos and came across a rune that I didn’t recognise, I was wondering if anyone could explain it to me. It looks like the Yr rune, but with a horizontal line through it, it is located on the hammer which I presume is meant to be Mjolnir, The link to the picture is below, Thanks in advance vour help.
https://s-media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/26/8e/78/268e78ad21ca1df30cb2a6dfec9e4d39.jpg
In the elder Futhark the symbol is Algiz
I’m half Irish. Is Irish considered Celtic?
Yes, Irish as well as Scottish are both Celtic. Being Irish, I was confused for a while too.
Hi im 1/2 dutch so I was looking for a new tattoo and I was thinking about geting some thing Viking so I was trying to find a pic for may 28 coz I have the zodiac geimi sign on me so I hope u can help me and I hope it look good as my 9th tattoo if you help thanks if not its kool
I would like the Celtic symbol for son and for daughter… I have their names tattooed on my leg and would Luv to have this symbol…
Also for brother.. my brother passed away last Dec would Luv to have one for him too…
A few years ago I was named during a Native American naming ceremony and the spiritual medicine man named me Kitasmo. It means yellow stripped wolf. He also mentioned that I have three types of medicine that make me a very powerful person. He said I have Celtic, Wiccan and Native medicine(spiritual powers). Could you tell me how the wolf is represented in Celtic and or wiccan spiritualism?
Are there any Celtic or Ogham symbols for giants? I have pituitary gigantism and I am thinking of a design for a tatoo and a wall cover.
What about the Luckenbooth?
Hm, that should actually be in the index. Not sure where it went…
I’m looking for a Celtic symbol for “welcome” and “come again, come back”
I’m looking for a celtic symbol that represent the universe. I want to get a tattoo of the universe to represent of how we came from star dust and i also want to merge my irish roots with it. please and thank you :]
I am looking for an image of a celtic symbol or knot for brother or brotherhood.
I am looking for a symbol to get as a tattoo with my cousin. She is my best friend, and also my daughters godmother. This tattoo will symbolize unity, and the strength of our bond. We have been through so much together, and I can’t even put into words how much we mean to each other. We have been planning to get matching tattoos for 10 years, but we haven’t found one that is right. I hope you can help.
ANAM CARA is Gaelic for “Soul Friend”
ANAM CARA is Gaelic for “Soul Friend” meaning you are excepted for who you are and you are home, so to speak.
Hello,
I am looking for a celtic symbol for mother and friend, or mentor and friend. I’m getting a tattoo and want a representation of my step mother who has been a mentor and a shoulder to me and wanted it represented in a celtic or Scottish symbol. Also a symbol for woman maybe. And a symbol of a ship into the after life or just. Ship in celtic or Scottish symbols. For my grand mother.
Any or all of these would be amazing! It’s hard to trust google!
Thank you amazing site
Samantha jade (Cameron) king
What would be the meaning of a Triquetra with a blade at the top left and at he bottom right
Is there Celtic symbol for ‘care’ or ‘support’ please?
I would like to see or at leaste have the name of a symbol for a celtic female warrior, ancient celtic or of ancient scotland I would like to have a ring or neckless made of this symbol
hi i hope jennifer can answer this but i seem to have a very unique celtic symbol and i have been looking to see if it has any related to it but so far i havent but ill decribe the front which is the easy part it has a women and her hand are bringing water up with the word nion on it but the back has the most complex detailing i have every seen and it was passed to me by my grandfather
Kevin, that is a strange one, I’ll see what i can find for you?
Jennifer, I bought a necklace with a celtic pendant, can I also send a picture to that email so you can help me find out which symbol is that?
Thanks in advance!
Evey
I am looking for the Celtic fatherhood and motherhood knot. Do you know where I can find the symbols for them?
Hi- I have a prepared post somewhere for these requests, but I’ve misplaced it. The short version is, there really is no such thing. Celtic knotwork generally served two purposes: some smaller knots were used for protective purposes, and the majority remaining were decorative infills or embellishments of other designs. A knotwork dog, for instance, has meaning relating to the dog, but not to the knots, generally speaking.
So there really aren’t any knots that have specific meanings, especially for modern cultural concepts like “sisterhood,” “inner strength,” etc.
Likewise, there are no knots or symbols for familial relationships. Part of the problem is that people selling knicknacks and jewelry have sort of invented a market for such items by making claims like this that really don’t exist. While a mother goddess symbol could certainly be used as a personal talisman for motherhood, or a sacred boar for cleverness or strength, the ancients who created them were not using them in this manner. So you’ll see LOTS of knots and doodles that are purported to be the “Celtic symbol of love/brotherhood/bravery/etc.,” but these are almost invariably contrived.
What I generally tell people with questions such as your is to peruse the historical designs for something that you feel a connection to, and use that. Or you can give your desired phrase some Celtic flair by spelling it with Ogham characters, etc.
Another idea would be to look for knots (double, triple, quadruple) that represent the number of people you wish to honor.
Some examples that would not stretch meanings too far:
Animal symbols:
Raven: battles, death, communications, remembrance. Appropriate for remembering those who have passed, especially veterans.
Boar: cleverness, strength, fearlessness. Appropriate symbol of bravery, for a survivor, etc.
Dog or hound: Courage, honor, loyalty. Use if you wish to symbolize loyalty to family or friends, signify an honorable friend, etc.
A serpent or dragon: wisdom, healing, immortality, vision: Use to signify life, a healer, a wise person, surviving death or protection from disease, etc.
Horse: Reliability, strength, someone central to survival. A mother or father.
Deer or faun: Beauty, adaptability. Good for a person who accepts change and transition.
Bull: Stability, fertility, strength, and survival. Appropriate for a father figure.
Swan: Beauty or romantic love.
Salmon: Wisdom, magic, prophecy.
Other emblems:
Mermaid: Beauty or vanity, seduction.
Claddagh: Fidelity, marriage, deep friendships, loyalty.
Shamrock: luck, protection from evil, trinities and groups of three.
Spiral: eternity, renewal, rebirth, everlasting life.
Celtic cross: Faith, the wheel of the seasons, life and death.
Brighid’s or Bride’s cross: The goddess, domesticity, protection of the home and animals of the home.
Tree of life: Wisdom, ancestors, concepts of being at peace or integrated, life.
Sheela-na-gig: Motherhood, fertility, Goddess, protection of children.
Hi, I’m looking for any symbols, celtic or druid, that symbolise death. it’s for a project I’m doing. Thank you in advance
I saw a drawing on a headstone in Kilmalkedar (Cill Maolceadair) in County Kerry, Ireland, and would like to know its meaning. Can I send you a picture of the headstone?
I found a necklace pendant in my deceased grandmothers belongings it looks like the Celtic knot or triquetra but instead of points it’s rounded it’s strange all of my family have them and my mother had a pure silver ring of the claddagh
Is there a symbol in Gaelic that means warrior or survivor?
My grandmother passed and we found a Celtic Cross in her jewelry box. my brother is going to get a tattoo it but changing it to all knots. I want to match it but want to know what the meanings are. He sent me a picture is someone wants toemail me. Just put Celtic Cross in the email header.
It does have 4 images, i think 4 are the same but the fifth one is what i am trying to figure out.
I want a symbol ( irish or celtic if possable) for mother- daughter for my daughters and I to get tattoos together.
is there a Gaelic symbol for potter?
Hi im looking for the celtic symbols of father and of mother so that i can tattoo them on each arm my father was depply intreged by celtic symbols and after losing my parents i think this would be a good eay to remind me of thrm and there passion
Hi David. I get this one a lot, but unfortunately, there really are no genuine emblems from that era with that meaning. My suggestion would be to look at what’s out there, and see what resonates with your memories of your parents. Trees in general have a connotation of family, ancestry, and the gateway to the otherworld, so that would be one possibility?
There is a famous Roman stone carving I have seen a picture of once that was left in England after they left. It is called “The Father” and it is a large Celtic Sun-God image of a bearded man’s face with curly long hair locks curling around his face like flames of the Sun inside a Sun disk with triangle rays in a circle around the outside of it. It was a Roman sculpture based on Celtic lore.
The “Great Queen” Morrigan was the war-goddess and her symbol is the carrion crow. The symbol for love is a hazel tree with nine nuts over top of a stone well.
Hi there,
I’m looking for two Celtic symbols. One who represents the bond between father and daughter and one who represents the bond between mother and daughter. I might have found the one for the father and daughter, but I’m not sure yet. I haven’t found the one for mother and daughter.
Which symbols do I need? I would like to have them a tattoos.
Thanks already!
I picked up a high back chair at a flee market this weekend. And tonight
as I was cleaning it I looked at the symbols on the back and they look
like they say something but I have no idea what. The second symbol
from the top looks like the french three leaf design that I don’t know
how to spell {flure de lay?} with an egg touching it. The third symbol
down the egg looks like it’s entering something that is folding back on
both sides. The forth symbol looks like the triple spiral. I bought it as
an Victorian hall chair. Any ideas?
Thanks
Any images possible?
Hi, I was wondering if you could tell/show me the Celtic symbol for brother or younger brother.
Thank you, Peter
Aengus is the God of youth.
Hello i have a neclace with the triqueta symbol on it, but it has a circle going through the triqueta, the only way i can explain it is that it is the symbol on a spiritual book in the series Charmed. What does it mean? and what is the druid meaning of a wolf and the name Courtney?
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