thumb|Imperial Orb of the [[Holy Roman Empire, part of the Imperial Regalia]]

The , also known as "the orb and cross" or stavroforos sphaira (), is an orb surmounted by a cross. It has been a Christian symbol of authority since the Middle Ages, used on coins, in iconography, and with a sceptre as royal regalia.

The cross laid over the globus represents Christ's dominion over the world, literally held in the hand of a worthy earthly ruler. In the iconography of Western art, when Christ himself holds the globe, he is called Salvator Mundi (Latin for 'Saviour of the World'). For instance, the 16th-century Infant Jesus of Prague statue holds a globus cruciger in this manner.

History

thumb|left|Augustus as Jove, holding scepter and orb, first half of 1st century AD

Holding the world in one's hand, or, more ominously, under one's foot, has been a symbol since antiquity. To citizens of the Roman Empire, the plain spherical globe held by the god Jupiter represented the world or the universe, as the dominion held by the Emperor. A 2nd-century coin from the reign of Emperor Hadrian shows the Roman goddess Salus with her foot upon a globus, and a 4th-century coin from the reign of Emperor Constantine I shows him with a globus in hand. The orbis terrarum was central to the iconography of the Tetrarchy, in which it represented the Tetrarchs' restoration of security to the Roman world. Constantine I claimed to have had a vision of symbol of Christ above the sun, with the words "In this sign, you shall conquer" (Latin: "In hoc signo vinces"), before the Battle of Milvian Bridge in AD 312. This symbol is usually assumed to be the "Chi-Rho (XP)" symbol, but some think it was a cross. Consequently, his soldiers painted this symbol on their shields and then defeated their foe, Maxentius.

With the growth of Christianity in the 5th century, the orb (in Latin works , the 'world of the lands', whence "orb" derives) was surmounted with a cross, hence globus cruciger, symbolizing the Christian God's dominion of the world. The Emperor held the world in his hand to show that he ruled it on behalf of God. To non-Christians already familiar with the pagan globe, the surmounting of a cross indicated the victory of Christianity over the world. In medieval iconography, the size of an object relative to those of nearby objects indicated its relative importance; therefore the orb was small and the one who held it was large to emphasize the nature of their relationship. Although the globe symbolized the whole Earth, many Christian rulers, some of them not even sovereign, who reigned over small territories of the Earth, used it symbolically.

The globus cruciger was associated with powerful rulers and angels; it adorned portrayals of both emperors and kings, and also archangels. It remained popular throughout the Middle Ages in coinage, iconography, and royal regalia. For example, it was often used by Byzantine emperors in order to symbolize their authority and sovereignty over the Christian world, usually being done via coinage. The symbol was meant to demonstrate that the emperor ruled both politically and divinely. The papacy, which in the Middle Ages rivaled the Holy Roman Emperor in temporal power, also used the symbol on top of the Papal tiara, which consisted of a triple crown; the Pope did not use a separate orb as a symbol. The globus cruciger (made up of a monde and cross) was generally featured as the finial of European royal crowns, whether on physical crowns or merely in royal heraldry, for example, in Denmark, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and Yugoslavia. It is still depicted not only in the arms of European polities for which a monarchy survives, yet also, since the end of communism in 1991, in the arms of some eastern European polities, despite the termination of their historical monarchies. Even in the modern era in the United Kingdom, the Sovereign's Orb symbolizes both the state and Church of England under the protection and domain of the monarchy.

The globus cruciger is also routinely featured atop the domes of churches, from Saint Peter's in Rome, to Saint Paul's in London, and many others.

A crossless globe is often featured in the portraits of Mughal emperor Jahangir where it both signifies the meaning of his name ("world seizer") and symbolizes his sovereignty. In several contemporary portraits he is often shown standing atop a large cartographic globe or seated on a throne with his feet on a globe.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px" style="font-size: 87.5%;">

Image:Barbarossa.jpg|Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa

Image:Goldene-bulle 1c-480x475.jpg|The Golden Bull of 1356 by the Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Image:Charles II (Chronica Hungarorum).jpg|Charles II of Naples and Hungary

Image:Mary (Chronica Hungarorum).jpg|Mary of Hungary

Image:Wenceslaus (Chronica Hungarorum).jpg|Wenceslaus III of Bohemia

Image:Dürer karl der grosse.jpg|Charlemagne by Albrecht Dürer

Image:Albrecht Dürer 082.jpg|Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor by Albrecht Dürer

Image:Gerard van Honthorst 006.jpg|Frederick V holding the orb

Image:Elizabeth I in coronation robes.jpg|Elizabeth I of England in coronation robes, with orb and sceptre

Image:Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom 1952-12-13.jpg|Primary Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, with Sovereign's Orb at upper left (in late 1952 before the coronation of Elizabeth II)

Image:14 Abu'l Hasan, Jahangir Suppressing Prince Khurram's Rebellion, ca 1623, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC.jpg|Jahangir holding an orb

Image:Imperial Orb of the Austrian Empire Vienna.jpg|Imperial orb of Austria

Image:Rijksappel.jpg|Dutch globus cruciger, part of the Regalia of the Netherlands

File:Crown, sceptre, orb & key of the King of Sweden 2014.jpg|Regalia of Sweden with the orb

Image:Russian regalia.jpg|Regalia of Russia

Image:Budapest Parlament Innen Kuppelhalle Ungarische Krönungsinsignien.JPG|Regalia of Hungary with the orb; note the patriarchal cross on the orb

Image:Uppland_vapen.svg|Coat of arms of Uppland

Image:Coat of Arms of Vologda (Vologda oblast) (1780).png|Coat of arms of Vologda

Image:Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg|Orb and sceptre in the coat of arms of Montenegro; several other coats of arms use them in the same manner.

Image:O_Salvador_do_Mundo,_a_vida_de_Jesus_Cristo.png|Chromolithograph of Jesus as a child, holding an orb and a crown of thorns

Image:Notre Dame Cathedral Ho Chi Minh city (39543912241).jpg|Statue of Virgin Mary holding an orb

Image:A német megszállás áldozatainak emlékműve (2).jpg|Statue of Archangel Gabriel holding an orb

Image:Orb in Sainte-Chapelle 20240128.jpg|Wall sculpture in Sainte-Chapelle, Paris

Image:Harris-Tweed 1.jpg|The Harris tweed orb

</gallery>

See also

  • Apfelgroschen – coin depicting the orb and cross of the Holy Roman Empire
  • The Ball and the Cross
  • Celestial spheres
  • Cintamani
  • Earth symbol
  • Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch
  • Monde (crown)
  • T and O map
  • Venus symbol

References

  • Leslie Brubaker, Dictionary of the Middle Ages, vol 5, pg. 564,
  • Picture of the 10th century Orb, Scepter and Crown insignia of the Holy Roman Empire