The Orthodox Three-Bar Cross Explained: Bars, Footrest, Letters

The Orthodox cross meaning is written right into its shape. The three-bar cross, also called the eight-pointed cross, shows the Cross of Golgotha as the Gospels describe it. The short top bar is the title board Pilate nailed above Christ’s head. The long middle bar holds His outstretched arms. The lower, slanted bar is the footrest, and its tilt recalls the two thieves crucified beside Him: one who repented and one who did not. Letters on the cross name Christ and His victory, and Russian crosses often carry the prayer “Save and protect” on the back.

Here is each part in turn, what the Church says about it, and how to read the cross you wear or give.

The top bar: the title board

St John tells us that “Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.” It was written “in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin” (John 19:19–20, KJV).

That board is the short top bar. On Western crosses you see the Latin initials INRI. On Slavic crosses you see the Church Slavonic initials ІНЦІ, for “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The OCA notes that Orthodox icons often write “King of Glory” on this bar instead, and Azbyka records the Slavonic ЦРЪ СЛВЫ, “King of Glory,” set above the title. Pilate meant the words as a charge. The Church reads them as the truth: the one on the Cross is the King.

The main bar and the eight points

The long middle bar is where the Lord’s arms were stretched out and nailed. Count the ends of the three bars and the top and foot of the upright, and you get eight points. That is why Russians call it the восьмиконечный крест, the eight-pointed cross.

The slanted footrest and its meaning

The lower bar is the footrest. Its slant is the detail people ask about most.

The two thieves

St Luke writes that Christ was crucified with two criminals, “one on the right hand, and the other on the left” (Luke 23:33). One mocked Him. The other rebuked his companion and prayed, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Christ answered, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:39–43).

By tradition the penitent thief hung on Christ’s right. The raised end of the footrest points to him, lifted toward Paradise. The lowered end points to the thief who blasphemed. Archbishop Anthony of San Francisco (ROCOR) explains the direction plainly. “The left side of the Cross from our view is the right side from the view of the Lord.” So when you face a cross, the high end of the footrest is on your left.

The balance of justice

The same image is sung in church. At the Ninth Hour the Church prays that between two thieves the Cross of the Lord was found to be a balance of justice. Archbishop Anthony describes the footrest as the beam of a pair of scales: the repentance and humility of one thief lifted his side, and the malice of the other dragged his side down. Azbyka gives the same reading, with one end of the bar pointing to Paradise and the other to Hades.

Is the slanted footrest a Russian invention?

Partly, and it is better to say so honestly. The three-bar form itself is old and shared: the OCA notes that earlier Byzantine icons already show the footrest, usually drawn straight. The slant came later. St John of Kronstadt, in his 1855 study On the Cross of Christ, called the slanted footrest a late form and “ours, Russian.” Today it is most common among the Russian and other Slavic churches, while Greek crosses usually keep the footrest straight or have no footrest at all.

None of this makes the slanted cross less holy. The Church venerates every cross made in the image of the Lord’s Cross, and the slant has become a short sermon on repentance carved into wood and metal.

The letters and signs on the cross

Look closely at a Russian or Greek cross and you will find small inscriptions. Azbyka explains the common ones.

• IC XC NIKA. IC and XC are the first and last letters of “Jesus” and “Christ” in Greek. NIKA means “conquers.” Together: “Jesus Christ conquers.” St Constantine set up crosses with these words in Constantinople.
• СНЪ БЖІЙ, “Son of God,” sometimes written on the arms.
• The skull at the foot. Below the footrest many crosses show a small hill with a skull. Golgotha means “the place of the skull,” and tradition says Adam was buried there. The letters ГГ stand for Golgotha and ГА for “the head of Adam.” Christ’s blood falls on the first man: the new Adam saving the old.
• МЛРБ, read as “the place of the skull has become Paradise.”
• К and Т. These stand for копие, the spear that pierced His side (John 19:34), and трость, the reed that lifted the sponge of vinegar to His mouth (John 19:29). Some crosses draw the spear and reed beside the upright.
• ”Save and protect.” Azbyka notes that eight-pointed crosses in Rus’ traditionally carry “Спаси и сохрани” on the back. It is the prayer the wearer makes through the Cross every day.

The four-pointed and budded crosses are just as Orthodox

Do not let anyone tell you a plain four-pointed cross is “Catholic.” Azbyka lists four-, six- and eight-pointed crosses as canonical forms. St John of Kronstadt taught that the Lord’s Cross was itself four-pointed. Wear the form your family and parish wear.

The budded cross is a four-pointed or three-bar cross whose arms end in rounded clusters, like branches coming into leaf. It is a traditional decorative form, not a different teaching: the buds simply adorn the same Cross, and it is as Orthodox as any other.

When the Church honors the Cross

• The Exaltation (Elevation) of the Cross, 14 September (27 September on the Old Calendar). It recalls St Helen’s finding of the Cross in Jerusalem and its lifting up before the people, who bowed down crying, “Lord, have mercy.”
• The Procession of the Wood of the Cross, 1 August (14 August on the Old Calendar).
• The Sunday of the Cross, the third Sunday of Great Lent (in 2027, 4 April). The OCA explains that the Cross is set in the middle of the church at the middle of the fast to be venerated “as that reality by which man must live to be saved.”

You can read more on the page for the Precious and Life-Giving Cross.

How our crosses map to the tradition

Every cross we sell follows one of the forms above. Browse them all on Orthodox crosses.

• Plain three-bar: the Plain Three-Bar crucifix with a 60 cm chain ($49), the classic eight-pointed shape with nothing extra.
• For the car, the bedside or a child’s room: the Eight-Pointed wooden cross, 10 cm ($29) and the Budded wooden cross, 10 cm ($29).
• The “King of Glory” title: the King of Glory crucifix in gold color ($39).
• The Greek letters: the IC XC cross in silver color ($39) and the round IC XC NIKA medallion ($39), which is pan-Orthodox, Greek and Slavic alike.
• For the wall: the Save and Protect wooden wall cross, 8 in ($49), with a printed Crucifixion and the Slavonic prayer.
• As a gift: Patron Saint & Cross ($99) pairs a stainless three-bar crucifix with a folding diptych of the person’s patron saint and Guardian Angel.

You can add Consecration ($49) to a cross or medallion: our Orthodox priest consecrates it with holy water and the prayers of the Church before it ships, and it arrives with a signed certificate and a vial of holy water. Orders with Consecration ship in 3–8 business days, and consecrated items are final sale. Read what Consecration is first, and when the cross arrives, see how to wear an Orthodox cross.