JBF_Symbolism_Planets Flashcards
Globus cruciger symbol for Earth. Earth is not one of the classical planets, as “planets” by definition were “wandering stars” as seen from Earth’s surface. Earth’s status as planet is a consequence of heliocentrism in the 16th century. Nonetheless, there is a pre-heliocentric symbol for the world, now used as a planetary symbol for the Earth. This is a circle crossed by a horizontal and vertical line, representing the world divided by four rivers into the four quarters of the world (often translated as the four “corners” of the world): 🜨.
The crescent shape has been used to represent the Moon since earliest times. In classical antiquity, it is worn by lunar deities (Selene/Luna, Artemis/Diana, Men, etc.) either on the head or behind the shoulders, with its horns pointing upward. The representation of the moon as a simple crescent with the horns pointing to the side (as a heraldic crescent increscent or crescent decrescent) is attested from late Classical times.
The symbol ☿ for Mercury is a caduceus (a staff intertwined with two serpents), a symbol associated with Mercury/Hermes throughout antiquity.[10] Some time after the 11th century, a cross was added to the bottom of the staff to make it seem more Christian.
The Venus symbol, ♀, consists of a circle with a small cross below it. It has been interpreted as a depiction of the hand-mirror of the goddess, which may also explain Venus’s association with the planetary metal copper, as mirrors in antiquity were made of polished copper (alloy),[11] though this is not certain.[4] In the Greek Oxyrhynchus Papyri 235, the symbols for Venus and Mercury didn’t have the cross on the bottom stroke,[4] and Venus still appears without the cross (⚲) in Johannes Kamateros (12th century).
In botany and biology, the symbol for Venus is used to represent the female sex, alongside the symbol for Mars representing the male sex,[12] following a convention introduced by Linnaeus in the 1750s.[13] Arising from the biological convention, the symbol also came to be used in sociological contexts to represent women or femininity.
The modern astronomical symbol for the Sun, the circumpunct (U+2609 ☉ SUN), was first used in the Renaissance. It possibly represents Apollo’s golden shield with a boss; it is unknown if it traces descent from the nearly identical Egyptian hieroglyph for the Sun.
Bianchini’s planisphere, produced in the 2nd century, shows a circlet with rays radiating from it.[6][3] In late Classical times, the Sun is attested as a circle with a single ray. A diagram in Johannes Kamateros’ 12th century Compendium of Astrology shows the same symbol.
The Mars symbol, ♂, is a depiction of a circle with an arrow emerging from it, pointing at an angle to the upper right in Europe and to the upper left in India. As astrological symbol it represents the planet Mars.[19][20] It is also the old and obsolete symbol for iron in alchemy. In zoology and botany, it is used to represent the male sex (alongside the astrological symbol for Venus representing the female sex),[12] following a convention introduced by Linnaeus in the 1750s.[13]
The symbol dates from at latest the 11th century, at which time it was an arrow across or through a circle, thought to represent the shield and spear of the god Mars; in the medieval form, for example in the 12th-century Compendium of Astrology by Johannes Kamateros, the spear is drawn across the shield.
The symbol for Jupiter, ♃, is originally a Greek zeta, Ζ, with a stroke indicating that it is an abbreviation (for Zeus, the Greek equivalent of Roman Jupiter).
Salmasius and earlier attestations show that the symbol for Saturn, ♄, derives from the initial letters (Kappa, rho) of its ancient Greek name Κρόνος (Kronos), with a stroke to indicate an abbreviation.[13] By the time of Kamateros (12th century), the symbol had been reduced to a shape similar to a lower-case letter eta η, with the abbreviation stroke surviving (if at all) in the curl on the bottom-right end. The horizontal stroke was added along with the “Christianization” of other symbols in the early 16th century.
The symbols for Uranus were created shortly after its discovery in 1781. One symbol, ⛢, invented by J. G. Köhler and refined by Bode, was intended to represent the newly discovered metal platinum; since platinum, commonly called white gold, was found by chemists mixed with iron, the symbol for platinum combines the alchemical symbols for iron, ♂, and gold, ☉.[21][22] Gold and iron are the planetary metals for the Sun and Mars, and so share their symbols. Several orientations were suggested, but an upright arrow is now universal.
Another symbol, ♅, was suggested by Lalande in 1784. In a letter to Herschel, Lalande described it as “un globe surmonté par la première lettre de votre nom” (“a globe surmounted by the first letter of your name”).[23] The platinum symbol tends to be used by astronomers and the monogram by astrologers.
Several symbols were proposed for Neptune to accompany the suggested names for the planet. Claiming the right to name his discovery, Urbain Le Verrier originally proposed to name the planet for the Roman God Neptune[25] and the symbol of a trident,[26] while falsely stating that this had been officially approved by the French Bureau des Longitudes.[25] In October, he sought to name the planet Leverrier, after himself, and he had loyal support in this from the observatory director, François Arago,[27] who in turn proposed a new symbol for the planet, ⯉ (proposed symbol for planet Leverrier).[28] However, this suggestion met with resistance outside France,[27] and French almanacs quickly reintroduced the name Herschel for Uranus, after that planet’s discoverer Sir William Herschel, and Leverrier for the new planet,[29] though it was used by anglophone institutions.[30] Professor James Pillans of the University of Edinburgh defended the name Janus for the new planet, and proposed a key for its symbol.[26] Meanwhile, Struve presented the name Neptune on December 29, 1846, to the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences.[31] In August 1847, the Bureau des Longitudes announced its decision to follow prevailing astronomical practice and adopt the choice of Neptune, with Arago refraining from participating in this decision.[32] The planetary symbol was Neptune’s trident, with the handle stylized either as a cross Neptune symbol (fixed width).svg, following Mercury, Venus and the asteroids, or as an orb Neptune orb symbol (fixed width).svg, following the symbols for Uranus and Earth.[9] The cross variant is the more common today.
Pluto was almost universally considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until its re-classification as a dwarf planet (planetoid) by the IAU in 2006. Planetary geologists[33] and astrologers continue to treat it as a planet. The original planetary symbol for Pluto was a monogram of the letters P and L. Astrologers generally use a bident with an orb. NASA has used the bident symbol since Pluto’s reclassification.
