Christogram
A Christogram (Latin: "") is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a religious symbol within the Christian Church. One of the oldest Christograms is the Chi-Rho (☧). It consists of the superimposed Greek letters chi and rho , which are the first two letters of Greek "Christ". It was displayed on the "labarum" military standard used by Constantine I in AD 312. The IX monogram () is a similar form, using the initials of the name "Jesus (the) Christ", as is the ΙΗ monogram (), using the first two  letters of the name "JESUS" in uppercase. There were a very considerable number of variants of "Christograms" or monograms of Christ in use during the medieval period, with the boundary between specific monograms and mere scribal abbreviations somewhat fluid. The name "Jesus", spelt "ΙΗΣΟΥΣ" in Greek capitals, has the abbreviations "IHS" (also written "JHS, IHC", or "ΙΗΣ"), the name "Christus" , spelt "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ", has "XP" (and inflectional variants such as "IX, XPO, XPS, XPI, XPM"). In Eastern Christian tradition, the monogram ΙϹΧϹ (with Overline indicating scribal abbreviation) is used for in both Greek and Cyrillic tradition. A Middle Latin term for  abbreviations of the name of Christ is "chrisimus". Similarly, Middle Latin "crismon", "chrismon" refers to the Chi-Rho monogram specifically. Chi (Χ). In antiquity, the cross, i.e. the instrument of Christ's crucifixion ("crux", "stauros"), was taken to be T-shaped, while the X-shape ("chiasmus") had different connotations. There has been scholarly speculation on the development of the Christian cross, the letter Chi used to abbreviate the name of Christ, and the various pre-Christian symbolism associated with the chiasmus interpreted in terms of "the mystery of the pre-existent Christ". In Plato's "Timaeus", it is explained that  the two bands which form the "world soul" ("anima mundi") cross each other like the letter Chi, possibly referring to the ecliptic crossing the celestial equator. Justin Martyr in the 2nd century makes explicit reference to Plato's image in "Timaeus" in terms of a prefiguration of the Holy Cross. An early statement may be the phrase in "Didache", "sign of extension in heaven" ("sēmeion epektaseōs en ouranōi"). An alternative explanation of the intersecting celestial symbol has been advanced by George Latura, claiming that Plato's "visible god" in "Timaeus" is the intersection of the Milky Way and the Zodiacal  Light, a rare apparition important to pagan beliefs. He said that Christian bishops reframed this as a Christian symbol. The most commonly encountered Christogram in English-speaking countries in modern times is the Χ (or more accurately, Chi), representing the first letter of the word "Christ", in such abbreviations as "Xmas" (for "Christmas") and "Xian" or "Xtian" (for "Christian"). Chi Rho (ΧΡ). The Alpha and Omega symbols may at times accompany the Chi-Rho monogram. Since the 17th century, "Chrismon" ("chrismum"; also "chrismos, chrismus") has been used as a New Latin term for the Chi Rho monogram. Because the "chrismon  was used as a kind of invocation" at the beginning of documents of the Merovingian period, the term also came to be used of the "cross-signatures" in early medieval charters. "Chrismon" in this context may refer to the Merovingian period abbreviation "I. C. N." for "in Christi nomine", later (in the Carolingian period) also "I. C." for "in Christo", and still later (in the high medieval period) just "C." for "Christus". St Cuthbert's coffin (late 7th century) has an exceptional realisation of the Christogram written in Anglo-Saxon runes, as ᛁᚻᛋ ᛉᛈᛋ, as it were "IHS XPS", with  the "chi" rendered as the "eolh" rune (the old "z" or "algiz" rune) and the "rho" rendered as the p-rune. IHS. In the Latin-speaking Christianity of medieval Western Europe (and so among Catholics and many Protestants today), the most common Christogram became "IHS" or "IHC", denoting the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus, ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, "iota-eta-sigma", or . The Greek letter "iota" is represented by I, and the "eta" by H, while the Greek letter "sigma" is either in its lunate form, represented by C, or its final form, represented by S. Because the Latin -alphabet letters "I" and "J" were not systematically distinguished until the 17th century, "JHS" and "JHC" are equivalent to "IHS" and "IHC". "IHS" is sometimes interpreted as meaning "ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΗΜΕΤΕΡΟΣ ΣΩΤΗΡ" ("Iēsous Hēmeteros Sōtēr," "Jesus our Saviour") or in Latin "Jesus Hominum (or Hierosolymae) Salvator", ("Jesus, Saviour of men [or: of Jerusalem]" in Latin) or connected with "In Hoc Signo". English-language interpretations of "IHS" have included "In His Service". Such interpretations are known as backformed acronyms. Used in Latin since the seventh century, the first use of "IHS" in an English document dates from the fourteenth century, in "Piers  Plowman". In the 15th century, Saint Bernardino of Siena popularized the use of the three letters on the background of a blazing sun to displace both popular pagan symbols and seals of political factions like the Guelphs and Ghibellines in public spaces (see Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus). The IHS monogram with the H surmounted by a cross above three nails and surrounded by a Sun is the emblem of the Jesuits, according to tradition introduced by Ignatius of Loyola in 1541. ICXC. In Eastern Christianity, the most widely used Christogram is a four-letter abbreviation, ΙϹ ΧϹ—a  traditional abbreviation of the Greek words for "Jesus Christ" (i.e., the first and last letters of each of the words , with the lunate sigma "Ϲ" common in medieval Greek), and written with titlo (diacritic) denoting scribal abbreviation (). On icons, this Christogram may be split: "ΙϹ" on the left of the image and "ΧϹ" on the right. It is sometimes rendered as "ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ" (Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς νικᾷ), meaning "Jesus Christ Conquers". "ΙϹΧϹ" may also be seen inscribed on the Ichthys. Lhq. After Francis Xavier landed in Kagoshima, Japan, in 1549, his missionary work grew and became widely distributed throughout Japan  under Daimyō's patronage. However, during the Edo period (1603–1868), Christians were persecuted and forced to hide. Because they were forbidden to openly worship the images of Christ or Mary, it is believed that they transferred their worship to other carved images and marked them with secret symbols understood only by the initiates. Certain Japanese lanterns, notably the 'Kirishitan dōrō' (キリシタン灯籠, Christian lanterns), did bear the "Lhq" monogram, which, a quarter turned, was engraved on the shaft (sao), which was buried directly into the soil without basal platform (kiso). The "Lhq" monogram corresponds to the distorted letters "IHS". Christogram A