Trinity Threads Design: IXOYE

A Christian Symbol's History

Greeks, Romans, and many other pagans used the fish symbol before Christians.

Hence the fish, unlike, say, the cross, attracted little suspicion, making it a perfect secret symbol for persecuted believers.

Roman History

When threatened by Romans in the first centuries after Christ, Christians used the fish to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes.

According to one ancient story, when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt, and the stranger would mark the other if they were a fellow Christian.

Through the ages

It represents an enduring symbol of our cherished faith: the belief that God sent Jesus to earth to demonstrate His love and sacrifice for our sins, allowing us to reconnect with God. However, merely displaying the Christian fish on a shirt, business card, or email signature cannot replace a genuine relationship with Jesus, which is attainable through faith. The hope is that encountering this Christian fish symbol will serve as a reminder of Jesus and His call for us to be "fishers of men." As modern Christians we must remember the courage of those who risked their lives to worship their Lord using this symbol, and marvel at how this simple fish design kept Christianity alive during dark historical periods.

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