From Celtic to Greek mythology passing through Tarots, cultures around the world have used different symbols to represent love. Beyond the traditional hearts and roses, there are many lesser-known symbols that have come to symbolize love.
Rather than define love, love symbols take us on a journey of expression. In identifying these various symbols, we are able to see more clearly into the varying depths of the emotion. When we focus on a particular symbol, we then gain deeper knowledge and are able to express ourselves in the arena of love more clearly.
Love symbols take us on a fun ride of expressing ourselves. Love symbols help us more easily express how we feel about other people.
Here is a selection of numerous symbols of love in different cultures.
Worldwide Love Symbols
Kokopelli – Hopi North America symbols
The Kokopelli symbol portrays an insect-like spirit, or máhu. The spirit-being is depicted as a hunchbacked grasshopper who is playing a wooden flute. The symbol represents spiritual and physical healing, love, music, and the healing powers of music.
He often plays a part in the Hopi rituals relating to matrimony, the love-flute was used by a man to attract a maiden. When the two were married, the man would destroy his flute, never to play again.
Eternal lovers – Taino Central America symbols
The symbol of the eternal lovers is usually shown as birds connected by their beaks, or a possible love scene. For the Taino, eternal love was important. As there was no belief in private property, everything that was grown or killed belonged to the entire tribe.
The eternal lovers represent equality amongst the tribe as well as fertility.
The Lovers – Tarots symbol
The Lovers depicts a naked man and woman, beneath the wings of an angel. They are positioned beside an apple tree, from which a snake hangs. There is a mountain in the background. The Lovers, when drawn upright, represents love, relationships, agreement, harmony and choice. Reversed, the card represents disagreement, discord, imbalance and self-love. The symbol consists of two interlocking circles, one containing a sun and the other a crescent moon – symbolizing the connection between the male and the female.
Triskeles – Celtic Love Knot
The Triskeles, sometimes known as a “Celtic love knot”, is one of the oldest Celtic symbols. The three sides represent earth, water and fire. The continuous line represents love, unity and eternal life. The significance of the three sides is unknown, though some symbologists suggest a connotation of motion, movement or energy.
Juno – Astrology South Europe
One of the four largest asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. Named after one of the daughters of Zeus (Jupiter in Roman mythology), Juno represents marriage, love, and commitment. She is associated with femininity and loyalty.
Venus – Astrology South Europe
Venus is the planet in the solar system between Mercury and Earth. Its symbol consists of a circle sat atop a cross, similar to the female sex symbol. In the European tradition, Venus is associated with love, lust and sexual desire. In the Indian tradition, Venus is associated with purity, beauty and fertility.
Urania – Greek Mythology South Europe
The muse of astronomy, Urania was the daughter of Zeus by Mnemosyne. She is known for fortune-telling abilities by seeing the arrangement of the stars. Urania is often associated with Universal Love and the Holy Spirit. The eldest of the divine sisters, Urania is said to have inherited Zeus’ majesty and the beauty of her mother Mnemosyne.
Eros Cupid – Greek Mythology South Europe
Eros is the god of love. He is often depicted as mischevious and is known to be Aphrodite’s constant companion. Eros is known to light the flame of love in both god and men. Eros is usually shown with a bow and arrow, or a flaming torch to accomplish this. While is origins remain unknown, some myths that he was self-born to spur procreation. However, Eros has also been depicted as Aphrodite’s child from when she emerged from the sea foam.
In Roman mythology his name is Cupid.
Menat – Egyptian Africa
Menat is the name of the goddess Hathor. A major goddess, she was a deity of the sky. She is known as a patron of music, dance, love, joy, and maternal care. Menat is a representation of femininity in ancient Egyptian culture. She is also a guide in the afterlife, helping guide deceased souls across the boundaries of the two worlds.
Zhiva – Slavic Central Europe
Zhiva (or Živa) is the goddess of life in the Slavic mythology. Her name translates as ‘She who lives.’ Zhiva represents fertility, love and marriage. She is the opposing personification to Mara, the goddess of death.
Potiza – Taino Central America
Shaped like a container, the Potiza was an important part of love during this time. It was used to store water as well as a fermentation device. The juice of the Guáyiga was stored and fermented in the Potiza. This would then be gifted by men to women to declare their love.
Copper – Alchemy symbol
The Copper symbol consists of a large X shape, intersected by three horizontal lines at the median point and upper and lower thirds. The upper and lower horizontal lines are bookended by small, unfilled circles, while the line that crosses the median point is shorter and bookended by unfilled diamond shapes. The symbol represents copper. The symbol is associated with Venus, and represents love and femininity.
Padme Lotus – Ashtamangala Asia
The Padme, or Lotus, represents purity, illumination, love, growth and transformation. If the Lotus has eight petals, it symbolizes harmony, while a lotus with one thousand petals symbolizes enlightenment. A lotus seed or bud represents potential. “Om mane padme,” is a Buddhist mantra, which translates as ‘the jewel in the lotus’. It means that there is potential for enlightenment in each of us. The color of the Padme can also change its meaning. White symbolizes purity and spiritual perfection. Red, passion and love. A blue lotus bud signifies intelligence and communication. A pink flower represents transcendence.
Xochitl – Aztec Central America
Xochitl, meaning ‘flower’, is the day in the Aztec calendar associate with the goddess Xochiquetzal. Xochiquetzal is the goddess of youth, love, pleasure and beauty. She watches over artists while they work. Xochitl is a day for creating things that speak truth to the heart. It is a day to remember that life is short, and to reflect. It is bad day to repress desire.
Eban – Adinkra Africa
Eban translates to mean ‘fence’, though in the case of this symbol, it represents more the safety and security provided by the home. The home is where the family is, and therefore the symbol also represents love and the security provided by the family.
Osram ne Nsoromma – Adinkra Africa
Osram ne Nsoromma translates to ‘the moon and the star’. It depicts a half moon as if it is a bowl that might catch the star above. The symbol represents faithfulness, fidelity, love and harmony.
Nsoromma – Adinkra Africa
The Nsoromma is a symbol of guardianship. It represents love, bonding and faithfulness, particularly in marriage. ‘Nsoromma’ translates literally to mean ‘star.’ The symbol serves as a constant reminder that God watches over all people.
Odo Nyera Fie Kwan – Adinkra Africa
The Odo Nyera Fie Kwan symbol represents the proverb, ‘those led by love will never lose their way,’ sometimes written as ‘love never loses its way home’.
This symbol is usually engraved on wedding bands and other events related to the union of two people. The Akan people consider it a powerful mantra to represent a union.
Anahata Heart chakra – Chakra Asia
The Anahata is located in the heart and its meaning is “Unstruck”. In esoteric Buddhism is known as Dharma.
It represents compassion, love, equilibrium and well-being. It is depicts a lotus with twelve petals. It contains a “yantra” – two intersecting triangles – representing the union of the male and female. The modern color associated to Anahata chakra is green.
Medicine Wheel Four Huts – Lakota Sioux North America
The medicine wheel contains seven stones, representing seven stars, seven arrows, or seven human traits: fear, courage, love, sorrow. The final three universal traits are said to be unknown. Combined, they represent either human nature, or the true nature of the individual. The four tents, evenly spaced around the perimeter, represent four predestined paths: those who will have far sight, those who will be innocent, who will be introspective, and those who will be knowledgeable.
Mongko – Hopi North America
The Mongko is the symbol of the Hopi spiritual law. It represents respect, harmony and love. The physical object, which the symbol depicts, is the signifier of the highest spiritual power. Typically featuring two horns, wood, feathers and corn, the individual parts symbolize the Earth, all of the plants and living things, water and humanity.
Bowen Knot – Celtic North Europe
The Bowen knot is not a true knot, it is sometimes knowns as a ‘heraldic knot’. It is also called ‘true lover’s knot’. It consists of a rope in the form of a continuous loop laid out as an upright square shape with loops at each of the four corners.
Solomon’s Knot – Celtic North Europe
The Solomon’s Knot is a Celtic symbol that is believed to symbolize the union of man and the divine. It is extremely ancient and may date back to the stone-age, used by many other ancient civilizations, not just the Celts. It was later attributed to King Solomon. The absence of any beginning or end in the knot makes it a symbol of eternity and immortality, while the design of two entwined figures makes the knot a symbol of love.
The Sailor’s Knot – Celtic North Europe
The Sailor’s Knot is a four-pointed Celtic knot, with two entwining, looping lines creating the overall shape. When the Celtic sailors would leave home, they wove notes to remember those left behind. The Sailor’s knot represents eternal love.
