The Armenian eternity sign (⟨֎ ֍⟩, ) or Arevakhach’ (, "Sun Cross") is an ancient Armenian national symbol and a symbol of the national identity of the Armenians.Armenian Eternity Sign , IT Development Support Council of the Government Prime Minister of Armenia , Workgroup of Language & Culture, 2010 . From page Prehistory of the Armenian Dram and Armenian eternity signs of National institute of Standards of Armenia. It is one of the most common symbols in Armenian architecture,Jacob G. Ghazarian (2006), The Mediterranean legacy in early Celtic Christianity: a journey from Armenia to Ireland, Bennett & Bloom, pp. 263, p. 171 "... Quite a different version of the Celtic triskelion, and perhaps the most common pre-Christian symbolism found throughout Armenian cultural tradition, is the round clockwise (occasionally counter-clockwise) whirling sun-like spiral fixed at a centre—the Armenian symbol of eternity."K. B. Mehr, M. Markow, Mormon Missionaries enter Eastern Europe, Brigham Young University Press, 2002, pp. 399, p. 252 "... She viewed a tall building with spires and circular windows along the top of the walls. It was engraved with sun stones, a typical symbol of eternity in ancient Armenian architecture." carved on khachkars and on walls of churches.

Evolution and use

In medieval Armenian culture, the eternity sign symbolized the concept of everlasting, celestial life. From the 1st century BC, it appeared on Armenian steles; later it became part of khachkar symbolism.N. Sahakyan/ Armenian Highland: / RAU Press. 2006, page 150(349) Around the 8th century the use of the Armenian symbol of eternity had become a long established national iconographical practice,Jacob G. Ghazarian (2006), The Mediterranean legacy in early Celtic Christianity: a journey from Armenia to Ireland, Bennett & Bloom, pp. 263, p. 186 "The eighth, or ninth, century date of this two examples of Irish stone crosses places them chronologically well after the carving of stone crosses in Armenia and the use of the Armenian symbol of eternity had become a long established national iconographical practice." and it has kept its meaning in modern times. Besides being one of the main components of khachkars,The government of Armenia, The list of non-material cultural heritage of Armenia, 2010, p. 15 it can be found on church walls,R. Kartashyan, «Architectural complex of Khoranashat» , The journal of social sciences №4, Yerevan, 1986, pp. 42–52Hayden Herrera (2005), Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work, Macmillan, pp. 784 Károly Gink, Károly Gombos, Armenia: landscape and architecture, Corvina Press, 1974 tomb stones and other architectural monuments.Nicolas Holding (2011), Armenia, Bradt Travel Guides, pp 312, p. 130, 148G. Sargsyan, U. Melkonyan, Litographical sketches – 2 , Historico-phylological journal of Armenian Academy of sciences, № 3, 2012, p. 101R. L. Khachatryan, Russian academy of Art, Rudolg Khachatryan: high-dimensional objects, Galart, 2002, p. 13Armenia Today, vol. 5–6, Yerevan, 1982, p. 4G. Karakhanyan, «Medieval domestic reliefs of Armenia» , The journal of social sciences, №8, Yerevan, 1975, pp. 31–47 Notable churches with the eternity sign include the Mashtots Hayrapet Church of Garni,see image of the dome Horomayr Monastery, Nor Varagavank, Tsitsernavank Monastery.Asratyan M., Tsitsernavank , Historico-phylological journal of Armenian Academy of sciences, № 2, 1980, p. 50 An identical symbol appears in the reliefs of the Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital,The Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği, Genel Bilgi photo gallery and is likely a borrowing from earlier Armenian churches of the area. It can also be found on Armenian manuscripts.

The eternity sign is used on the logos of government agencies and on commemorative coins, see the image of the coin , see the logo of the Customs Service of Armenia The Council of the city Yerevan, the seal of Yerevan, 2010, see the logo of Yerevan Ministry of Justice of RA, about the medals and decorations, 2007 The government of Armenia, symbol of the cooperation «Armenia-Diaspora» , 2012 Ministry of Emergency Situations, about the medals and decorations, 2011, see the symbol of the cooperation «Armenia-Diaspora» Central Bank of Armenia, coin «15-years of liberation of Shushi», 2007, see the image of the coin as well as Armenian government agencies and non-government organizations and institutions in Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.National Council of Western Armenia, the flag of Western Armenia, 2011

The symbol is also used by Armenian neopagan organizations and their followers. It is called by them "Arevakhach" (, "sun cross").

ArmSCII and Unicode

In ArmSCII, Armenian Standard Code for Information Interchange, an Armenian eternity sign has been encoded in 7-bit and 8-bit standard and ad hoc encodings since at least 1987. In 2010 the Armenian National Institute of Standards suggested encoding an Armenian Eternity sign in the Unicode character set, and both left-facing ⟨֎⟩ and right-facing ⟨֍⟩ Armenian eternity signs were included in Unicode version 7.0 when it was released in June 2014.

Gallery Churches

Modern statues and sculptures

Logos

in other cultures

See also Borjgali Castro culture (Economy and Arts, Stonework, Metallurgy) Hilarri (Basque steles) Lists of national symbols Petroglyph Pictish stone Picture stones of Gotland Triskelion

References

External links

Downtown, North End. "Armenian Heritage Park to participate Saturday in World Labyrinth Day", Posted by Jeremy C. Fox April 29, 2013. – "A single jet of water and the symbol of eternity mark its center, representing hope and rebirth." Armenian Engineers & Scientists of America. "The Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America (AESA) logo is an ancient symbol used in Armenian architecture and carvings. The symbol signifies Eternal Life – in Armenian Haverjoutian Nshan or Sign of Eternity."