A cross whose arms end in arrowheads is called a "cross barby" or "cross barbee" in the traditional terminology of heraldry. In Christian use, the ends of this cross resemble the barbs of fish hooks, or fish spears. This alludes to the Ichthys symbol of Christ, and is suggestive of the "fishers of men" theme in the Gospel.
In modern use, the symbol has become associated with extremist organisations after the Arrow Cross (Nyilaskereszt) symbol was used in Hungary in the 1930s and 1940s as the symbol of a Hungarian National Socialist political party, the Arrow Cross Party. The symbol consists of two green double-ended arrows in a cross configuration on a white circular background, much like the German Nazi swastika. The arrow cross symbol remains outlawed in Hungary.
A similar symbol, the Crosstar, is now used by the Nationalist Movement, a white supremacist group based in the United States. Both are basically the arrow cross symbol.
Famous quotes containing the words arrow and/or cross:
“... and the next summer she died in childbirth.
That’s all. Of course, there may be some sort of sequel but it is not known to me. In such cases instead of getting bogged down in guesswork, I repeat the words of the merry king in my favorite fairy tale: Which arrow flies for ever? The arrow that has hit its mark.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“The cross of the Legion of Honor has been conferred on me. However, few escape that distinction.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)