Budded Cross



The Budded Cross
also know as the Apostles' Cross, the Treflée, Botonée or Cathedral Cross

Just a few of the dozens of different Budded Cross permutations.

The Budded Cross may have a long stem or all four arms may have equal lengths. There may be one, two or three buds (or more). The arm edges may be straight or convex. The arm ends may be straight, convex or concave... and innumerable other variations.

Read the text on the right for more details.

There is a huge variety of Budded Cross styles, all with slightly different meanings, to suit whatever purpose the church or other organisation may wish to convey.

The discs or circles at the ends of the arms may be spherical or rings, but in artwork they are usually assumed to be two-dimensional solid discs.

The Pagan use of the Celtic Cross is well known, where the circle or disc represented the Sun. It is believed that design was copied by the early Christians in Europe..

A cross with three circles or discs on each arm was probably also copied from earlier Celtic Druidry, where the circles or rings represent the three dominions of earth, sky and sea.

There are several names for this cross, depending on the interpretation. These include Budded, Apostles', or Cathedral Cross, all implying a religious theme, and Treflée or Botonée¹ in a heraldic context.

In Abrahamic religious art, a each arm of a Budded Cross may have one, two or most commonly, three buds. Each arrangement can suggest different meanings:

1. One bud can remind us of Aaron's staff that budded (see Numbers 17) and was preserved in the Ark of the Covenant, showing that life can emerge from death and renewed life from difficult circumstances. Or like the buds of a flower representing a journey of growth in faith, like flowers growing but not yet bloomed.

2. Two buds make the cross arms look a bit like bones. See also Bones Cross.

3. Where there are three buds, we are reminded of the teachings in 1 Corinthians 13: "Faith, Hope, Love; The greatest of these is love."²

   Christians are also reminded of the Trinity by these three buds, or anything else with a triple design, such as the three-leafed clover³ caps

   Since there are four arms, another name is the Apostles' Cross, with one bud for each of the twelve budding Christian apostles.⁴

Latin Cross

Such a cross, with or without a corpus, is often an identification mark on signboards and maps for a cathedral, hence it is occasionally named a Cathedral Cross. (Chapel and Church crosses are usually less ornate, such as the Latin Cross.)

Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia

Sumy Oblast, Ukraine
(click image to enlarge)

The term Treflée Cross, Trefoil Cross, Botonée Cross or Bottony Cross is used more in heraldry. It is an artistic variation of the Cross Crosslet and usually shown with all four arms the same length (to fit within a shield) like the Greek Cross. An example is seen on the flags of Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia and Sumy Oblast, Ukraine.

Pattée Cross

The shape of the cross arm also has significance. The arm edges are usually either straight, to give more focus on the buds, or Pattée.

Pommee Cross

With larger discs, the cross may be referred to as a Pommee Cross. There is no standard to determine just how big the disc should be to qualify as a Pommee Cross; just as there is no standard to determine how large a hill should be before it is called a mountain. But generally, in a Pommee Cross the discs are wider than the thickness of the cross arms.

The arms ends can be straight across, concave, or convex, depending on whether the designer wishes to show the bud 'attached' to the arm (as in the concave arm end) or 'leaving' the cross (as in the convex arm end).

Fleur de Lis

Annulet

Obelisk