Triskelion
A triskelion or triskeles is a motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry.
The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs.
The triple spiral is found in artefacts of the European Neolithic and Bronze Age
with continuation into the Iron Age especially in the context of the La Tène culture and related Celtic traditions.
The actual triskeles symbol of three human legs is found especially in Greek antiquity, beginning in archaic pottery, and continued in coinage of the classical period.
In the Hellenistic period, the symbol becomes associated with Sicily in particular, appearing on coins minted under Dionysius I of Syracuse beginning in c. 382 BC.
The same symbol later appears in heraldry, and came to be associated specifically with the Isle of Man.
Greek τρισκελής means "three-legged".
While the Greek adjective τρισκελής "three-legged " is ancient, use of the term for the symbol is modern, introduced in 1835 by Honoré Théodoric d'Albert de Luynes as French triskèle, and adopted in the spelling triskeles following Otto Olshausen.
The form triskelion is a diminutive which entered English usage in numismatics in the late 19th century.
The form consisting of three human legs has also been called a "triquetra of legs" or triskelos, triskel.
Use in European antiquity
Neolithic to Bronze Age
The triple spiral symbol, or three spiral volute, appears in many early cultures, the first in Malta and in the astronomical calendar at the famous megalithic tomb of Newgrange in Ireland built around 3200 BCE, as well as on Mycenaean vessels.The Neolithic era symbol of three conjoined spirals may have had triple significance similar to the imagery that lies behind the triskelion.. It is carved into the rock of a stone lozenge near the main entrance of the prehistoric Newgrange monument in County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange, which was built around 3200 BCE.
Classical Antiquity
The triskeles proper, composed of three human legs, is younger than the triple spiral, found in decorations on Greek potteryespecially as a design shown on hoplite shields, and later also minted on Greek and Anatolian coinage.
An early example is found on the shield of Achilles in an Attic hydria of the late 6th century BCE.
It is found on coinage in Lycia, and on staters of Pamphylia and Pisidia.
The meaning of the Greek triskeles is not recorded directly.
The Duc de Luynes in his 1835 study noted the co-occurrence of the symbol with the eagle, the cockerel, the head of Medusa, Perseus, three crescent moons, three ears of corn, and three grains of corn.
From this, he reconstructed feminine divine triad which he identified with the "triple goddess" Hecate.
The triskeles was adopted as emblem by the rulers of Syracuse. It is possible that this usage is related with the Greek name of the island of Sicily, Trinacria.
The Sicilian triskeles is shown with the head of Medusa at the center.
The ancient symbol has been re-introduced in modern flags of Sicily since 1848.
Roman period and Late Antiquity
Late examples of the triple spiral symbols are found in Iron Age Europe, e.g. carved in rock in Castro Culture settlement in Galicia, Asturias and Northern Portugal.In Ireland before the 5th century, in Celtic Christianity the symbol took on new meaning, as a symbol of the Trinity.
Medieval use
The triple spiral design is found as a decorative element in Gothic architecture.The three legs symbol is rarely found as a charge in late medieval heraldry,
notably as the arms of the King of Mann, and as canting arms in the city seal of the Bavarian city of Füssen.
Modern usage
The triskeles was included in the design of the Army Gold Medal awarded to British Army majors and above who had taken a key part in the Battle of Maida.An early flag of Sicily, proposed in 1848, included the Sicilian triskeles or "Trinacria symbol".
Later versions of Sicilian flags have retained the emblem, including the one officially adopted in 2000.
The Flag of the Isle of Man shows a heraldic design of a triskeles of three armoured legs.
The triple spiral, or the "horned triskelion", is used by some polytheistic reconstructionist or neopagan groups.
As a "Celtic symbol", it is used primarily by groups with a Celtic cultural orientation and, less frequently, can also be found in use by various eclectic or syncretic traditions such as Neopaganism. The spiral triskele is one of the primary symbols of Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism, used to represent a variety of triplicities in cosmology and theology; it is also a favored symbol due to its association with the god Manannán mac Lir.
Other uses loosely inspired by the triskelion as a "Celtic" symbol include the crest of the Breton football club En Avant de Guingamp, which combines the Flag of Brittany, the team colours and the triple spiral triskelion.
and the triskelion-like design of the roundel of the Irish Air Corps,
Other uses of triskelion-like emblems include the logo for the Trisquel Linux distribution, the seal of the United States Department of Transportation,
and the design of RCA's "Spider" 45 rpm adapter.
Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, an Afrikaner nationalist organization and political party, uses a triskele composed of three sevens as its symbol in place of the Nazi Hakenkreuz.
Use of a triskelion-derived emblem has been reported for parts of the BDSM community in 2012.
"The Gamesters of Triskelion" is a second-season episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek.
In the Marvel Universe, the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the Triskelion as its headquarters.
The Triskele is also used as a prominent symbol in MTV's Teen Wolf which draws heavily from Celtic mythology.
In the television series Merlin it was used as symbol of druids.
In anime Nanatsu no Taizai it is used as symbol of goddesses clan.
Occurrence in nature
The endocytic protein, clathrin, is triskelion-shaped.The Ediacaran fossil Tribrachidium is also triskelion shaped.