Geometric Shapes and Their Symbolic Meanings
Forms ranging from circles to dodekagrams have significance in many philosophies

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Religious symbolism of geometric shapes

Learn Religions / Nusha Ashjaee
by Catherine Beyer
Updated July 08, 2019

Geometric shapes—triangles, circles, squares, stars—have been part of human religious symbolism for thousands of years, long before they became part of scientific endeavors and construction projects by the Egyptians and Greeks. The simplest shapes are found in nature and are used by many different cultures around the world to represent a wide variety of meanings. Shape symbols range from common circles and squares and triangles to more obscure shapes such as unicursal hexagrams.

The 6th century BCE Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras believed that geometry was the rational understanding of God, man, and nature: Many of the shape meanings in western philosophies arise from his writings. Various meanings are commonly ascribed to these shapes, particularly when used in religious or magical contexts.
Circle
Rings Grid
Dinamir Predov / Getty Images

Circles are among the oldest of geometric symbols, and commonly represent unity, wholeness, and infinity. Pythagoras called the circle "monad," the most perfect of creative forms, without beginning or end, without sides or corners. He associated the circle with the number 1 and the practice of monotheism.

Perfection and Ideals

In the Zen Buddhist philosophy, a circle stands for enlightenment and perfection in unity with the primal principles. Circles are sometimes symbols of the Judeo-Christian God and sanctity, appearing as haloes. In Chinese symbology, the circle represents the heavens.

Circles are also often seen as protective symbols. In occult practices, standing within a circle shields people from supernatural dangers or outside influences. Circles can also represent containing, keeping what is inside from been released.

Ouroboros

The ouroboros (Greek for "tail swallower") is a circular symbol representing a snake or dragon feeding off its own tail, or two such creatures feeding off each other's tails. First attested in the New Kingdom Egypt in the 10th-11th century BCE, the ouroboros represents the cycle of rebirth, completion, unification of polarities, regeneration, and eternity. Ouroboros is also found in Aztec and Norse mythologies.

Sun Symbols

The circle is also used nearly universally to represent the sun and/or the moon, or things associated with those bodies. The astrological symbol of the sun is a circle with a dot in the middle. The same symbol is used to represent gold, which is strongly associated with the sun.

Element of Spirit

The element of spirit, seen as an element equal to or superior to the physical elements of fire, air, water, and earth, is commonly represented by a circle.
Spiral
Spiral staircase
You can create upward spirals for yourself rather than being prey to downward spirals of stress!. Paul Thuysbaert/ Stone/ Getty Images

A spiral is a curve that starts as a point in the center, and curls around to a large circle; concentric circles are related symbols, consisting of a set of nested circles. Found in nature such as nautilus shells, spirals are some of the oldest geometric shapes, found carved into Neolithic passage tombs in the United Kingdom, carved on rock art around the world, and as part of the geoglyphic Nazca lines in Peru.

Anthropologists and others typically associate spirals and concentric rings with shamanism and the achievement of altered states of consciousness.
Triangle
Golden triangular terraces in modern architecture

Krakozawr / Getty Images

In Western society, equilateral triangles most often have Christian meanings in religious contexts. Because the Christian God is a trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost united in a single godhead—he is commonly represented by a triangle.

Pythagoras associated the number 3 with triangles, which is meaningful to many groups. Triangles and other three-part symbols may present such concepts as past, present, and future or spirit, mind, and body.

Summoning Symbols

Some occultists use the triangle as a summoning symbol. At the culmination of a ritual, the desired being is expected to appear within a triangle inscribed upon the floor. The occultist often performs rituals from the protection of a circle.

Point-Up and Point-Down Triangles

The orientation of a triangle can be important to its meaning. Point-up triangles represent a strong foundation or stability. Earth and water symbols are formed from point-up triangles; pointing upward stands for the ascent to heaven. The point-up triangle can also represent male energy, and fire and air are masculine elements.

The point-down triangle can represent female energy, and water and earth are feminine elements. Symbols for air and fire are formed from point-down triangles; point-down triangles can represent the descent into the physical world.

When paired and presented as point-to-point, triangles represent sexual union and the principle of harmony. Intersecting point-up and point-down triangles creates hexagrams.
Cross
Low Angle View Of Cross Against Sky

Getty Guido Menker / EyeEm Creative / Getty Images

The cross is best known in its Christian context as a symbol of sacrifice and salvation referring to Jesus' death by crucifixion. The cross has numerous other religious meanings, most of which reflect groups of four, corresponding to the four points on the cross.

Crosses commonly represent the earth and the physical universe, particularly in Western culture, primarily from two associations: the four physical elements (earth, water, air, and fire) and the four cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west). The astrological symbol for Earth is a cross inside a circle. This symbol, also known as a sun cross or solar wheel, has been associated with the sun and its four seasons.

Crosses share many properties with squares, which usually have more material meanings than crosses.
Square
Colorful Blocks

Roan Gumangan / EyeEm / Getty Images

Pythagoras associated the square with the number 4, and that number in many cultures is commonly associated with material things—physical elements, compass directions, and seasons. Thus, squares and crosses are often used as symbols of the material world. However, squares have visual solidness that crosses lack. A square has volume; it contains space. 

Squares represent solidity, a perfection that is static, dependable, earthly and material. In Hinduism, the square represents cosmic order and the balance of opposites; in Native American religions, the square represents permanence, a safe place. In Chinese symbolism, the square represents the earth. In many many cultures, a square is a meeting place, a plaza at the heart of a city.
Pentagram
Close-up of stars mounted on the wall

Panoramic Images / Getty Images

The five-pointed star, called a pentagram, has been used for millennia by a variety of cultures. Five-pointed stars are found in Mesopotamia from the 4th millennium BCE; stars are used in conjunction with a crescent to represent Islam. Muhammad said that the star represented "our smiling hope, the beauty of aim and object, and the light of our belief in God."

Most uses in Western society descend from occult traditions, and in Wicca, the pentagram is a symbol of protection and warning, while in Satanism it represents the Goat. Pythagoras associated the number 5 with the star; the Mah Jong tiles marked a five-pointed star represents the number 6.

To Pythagoras, a five-pointed star represented the five elements that make up humans: fire, water, air, earth, and spirit. The pentagram is also the official symbol of the Baha'i faith.
Heptagram / Septagram
Acute Heptagram Septagram
Catherine Beyer

Seven-pointed stars are known as heptagrams or septagrams. There are two configurations for heptagrams; the acute heptagram, shown here, and the obtuse heptagram. In addition, the heptagon—a seven-sided polygon—can represent the same things as heptagrams.

Astrological Significance

The ancient world recognized only seven "planets" other than Earth: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, plus the moon and sun. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are not visible to the naked eye and thus unknown. The heptagram often reflects these seven planets, and in western occultism, systems were often based upon astrological correspondences of these seven points. It was believed that each planet radiated certain influences. Understanding those influences is the realm of astrology.

Universal Balance

Because the planets are represented equally in the heptagram, the symbol can be off balance, equally representing the seven great powers of planetary magic.

Seven combines pairing the numbers 3 (spirituality, referring to the Christian trinity) and 4 (physicality, referring to the four elements and the four cardinal directions), which can also represent universal balance.

The orientation of the seven-point start can also be important in the occult world. Three points over four can symbolize spirit ruling matter, while four points over three can be physicality ruling spirit.

Days of the Week

The heptagram can represent the seven days of the week. In the Judeo-Christian context, it can be a symbol of completion, as the universe was created within the seven-day week.

Elven Star

The acute heptagram is sometimes called the Elven Star or the Faerie Star and has been widely adopted by the Otherkin, people who believe they're supernatural beings such as elves, fairies, or dragons trapped in human bodies.

Enochian Angel Magic

Heptagrams and heptagons are commonly used in John Dee's system of Enochian angel magic, which is strongly rooted in sets of seven. The most famous example is Dee's Sigillum Dei Aemeth.
Hexagram
Hexagram

 Catherine Beyer

A hexagram with equidistant points is unique in geometry because it cannot be drawn unicursally—without lifting and repositioning the pen. Instead, overlapping two triangles forms hexagrams.

The six-pointed star is a mandala symbol found on south Indian Hindu temples, symbolizing the perfect meditative state of balance. The six-pointed Star of David symbolizes God's rule over the universe, and in the Mormon church is symbolizes God reaching towards humans and humans reaching towards God.

A unicursal hexagram—creating a six-pointed shape without lifting the pen—is possible, but the points will not be equidistant.
Unicursal Hexagram
Unicursal Hexagram

 Catherine Beyer

The points of the unicursal hexagram, a six-pointed star that can be drawn in one continuous movement, are not equidistant and the lines are not of equal length (unlike a standard hexagram). It can, however, fit inside a circle with all six points touching the circle.

The unicursal hexagram is commonly depicted with a five-petaled flower in the center, a geometric variation created by Aleister Crowley and associated with the religion of Thelema. Placement a small pentagram in the hexagram's center is another variation.
Enneagram of Overlapping Triangles
Enneagram of Overlapping Triangles
Catherine Beyer

An enneagram is a nine-pointed star, often associated with a branch of thought known as the Fourth Way, which was developed in the 20th century. Formed by three overlapping triangles, it can represent a trinity of trinities, a symbol of holiness or spiritual completion.

An enneagram might also be used as a symbol of universal wholeness, with each point representing a planet, although the 2006 downgrading of Pluto to a dwarf planet complicates such symbolism.
Baha'i Enneagram
Baha'i Enneagram

 Catherine Beyer

While the five-pointed star is the official symbol of the Baha'i faith, the nine-pointed star is commonly associated with the religion and is used as the representative symbol on its U.S. website. There is no standard format for the star. It is depicted here constructed of three overlapping equilateral triangles, but equally valid depictions can use either sharper or shallower angles to the points. The preferred orientation is point-up.
Dekagram
Decagram from overlapping pentagrams

Catherine Beyer

For those working within a Kabbalistic system, the decagram can represent the 10 sephirot of the Tree of Life.

A decagram can be formed by overlapping two pentagrams. This reflects the union of opposites, as point-up and point-down pentagrams have their own meanings. A pentagram can represent the five elements, and a decagram might represent the positive and negative aspects of all the elements.
Dodekagram
Dodekagram from four overlapping triangles
Catherine Beyer

The number 12 has many potential meanings. It is the number of months in the year, representing a yearly cycle and its completion and wholeness. It is the number of Jesus' disciples, making it a common number in Christianity, and the original number of Hebrew tribes, making it common in Judaism.

But a 12-sided figure most commonly represents the zodiac, which is divided into 12 signs. Those 12 signs are divided into four groups identified by elements (three fire signs, three water signs, etc.), so a dodekagram made up of four overlapping triangles (depicted here) works particularly well. A dodekagram made up of two overlapping hexagons can be used to divide the zodiac symbols by male and female qualities.

The Meaning Of Shapes: Developing Visual Grammar
by Steven Bradley on
April 5, 2010

Archived in Web Design

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The Meaning Of Shapes: Developing Visual Grammar

What do you feel when you see a circle? A square? A triangle? Are you affected the same when seeing an object with soft gentle curves as you are when seeing another object with sharp jagged edges? Much the same way that lines have meaning, shapes have meaning and are an important building block in the visual grammar and visual thinking we have at our disposal as designers.

Random Shapes

Shapes have an endless variety of characteristics, each communicating different messages to your audience. You’d be hard pressed to design any web page without creating shapes. Even if your page is nothing more than paragraphs of text you’re laying down shapes on the page.

What kind of shapes do we have at our disposal? What do all those shapes say to our visitors? How do they enhance or detract from the concept you want to convey?
The Grammar of Shapes

    I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.
    —Georgia O’Keeffe 

Shapes are two-dimensional areas with a recognizable boundary. They can be open or closed, angular or round, big or small. Shapes can be organic or inorganic. They can be free-form or geometric and ordered.

Shapes can be defined by their color or by the combination of lines that make up their edges. Simple shapes can be combined to form complex shapes. Complex shapes can be abstracted to make simple shapes.

The different characteristics of a shape convey different moods and meanings. Changing the characteristics of a shape alter how we perceive that shape and make us feel differently about a design. Shapes are a powerful way to communicate.

Designers use shapes to:

    Organize information through connection and separation
    Symbolize different ideas
    Create movement, texture, and depth
    Convey mood and emotion
    Emphasize and create entry points and areas of interest
    Lead the eye from one design element to the next

Shape types
Types of Shapes

There are 3 basic types of shapes (PDF).

    Geometric shapes are what most people think of as shapes. Circles, squares, triangles, diamonds are made up of regular patterns that are easily recognizable. This regularity suggests organization and efficiency. It suggests structure. Geometric shapes tend to be symmetrical further suggesting order.
    Natural/Organic shapes are irregular. They have more curves and are uneven. They tend to be pleasing and comforting. While they can be man-made (ink blobs), they are more typically representative of shapes found in nature such as a leaves, rocks, and clouds. On a web page organic shapes are generally created through the use of illustration and photography. They are free form and asymmetrical and convey feelings of spontaneity. Organic shapes add interest and reinforce themes.
    Abstract shapes have a recognizable form, but are not real. They are stylized or simplified versions of organic shapes. A stick figure is an abstract shape depicting a person. Typographic glyphs are abstract shapes to represent letters. Icons are abstract shapes to represent ideas and concepts. Some abstract shapes have near universal recognition. Think of some of the icons you see in the software you use daily.

Shapes can be either positive or negative. They can be figure or they can be ground. Be conscious of the shapes you form with negative space as these are just as, if not more, important than the shapes you form with positive space.
Resources for Creating Geometric Shapes with Unicode

    Unicode Geometric Shapes
    Geometric Shapes

The Meaning of Shapes

There are truly an endless variety of shapes and combination of shapes, each communicating its own meaning and message. Often the meaning behind shapes is cultural (a red octagon as a stop sign), particularly as shapes are combined. We’ll confine ourselves to a discussion of some basic geometric shapes here and I’ll provide some links to more detailed sources of shape meaning beyond the basics.

Circles

Circles have no beginning or end. They represent the eternal whole and in every culture are an archetypical form representing the sun, the earth, the moon, the universe, and other celestial objects between. Circles are used to suggest familiar objects such as wheels, balls, many kinds of fruit. They suggested well-roundedness and completeness.

Circles have free movement. They can roll. Shading and lines can enhance this sense of movement in circles. Circles are graceful and their curves are seen as feminine. They are warm, comforting and give a sense of sensuality and love. Their movement suggests energy and power. Their completeness suggests the infinite, unity, and harmony.

Circles protect, they endure, they restrict. They confine what’s within and keep things out. They offer safety and connection. Circles suggests community, integrity, and perfection.

Because they are less common in design they work well to attract attention, provide emphasis, and set things apart.

rectangles and squares

Squares and rectangles are stable. They’re familiar and trusted shapes and suggest honesty. They have right angles and represent order, mathematics, rationality, and formality. They are seen as earthbound. Rectangles are the most common geometric shape encountered. The majority of text we read is set in rectangles or squares.

Squares and rectangles suggest conformity, peacefulness, solidity, security, and equality. Their familiarity and stability, along with their commonness can seem boring. They are generally not attention getters, but can be tilted to add an unexpected twist. Think of web pages that tilts framed images to help them stand out.

Every element on a web page is defined by a rectangle according to the css box model. Web pages are rectangles made up of smaller rectangles and squares.

In Buddhist symbolism a square (earthbound) inside a circle (eternal whole) represents the relationship between the human and the divine.

Triangles

Triangles can be stable when sitting on their base or unstable when not. They represent dynamic tension, action, and aggression. Triangles have energy and power and their stable/unstable dynamic can suggest either conflict or steady strength. They are balanced and can be a symbol for law, science, and religion.

Triangles can direct movement based which way they point. They can be used to suggest familiar themes like pyramids, arrows and, pennants. Spiritually they represent the religious trinity. They can suggest self-discovery and revelation.

The strength of triangles suggests masculinity. Their dynamic nature make them better suited to a growing high tech company than a stable financial institution when designing a logo. Triangles can be used to convey progression, direction, and purpose.

Sprials

Spirals are expressions of creativity. They are often found in the natural growth pattern of many organisms and suggest the process of growth and evolution. Spirals convey ideas of fertility, birth, death, expansion, and transformation. They are cycles of time, life, and the seasons and are a common shape in religious and mystical symbolism.

Spirals move in either direction and represent returning to the same point on life’s journey with new levels of understanding. They represent trust during change, the release of energy and maintaining flexibility through transformation.

Clockwise spirals represent projection of an intention and counterclockwise spirals the fulfillment of an intention. Double spirals can be used to symbolize opposing forces.

Crosses

Crosses symbolize spirituality and healing. They are seen as the meeting place of divine energies. The 4 points of a cross represent self, nature, wisdom, and higher power or being. Crosses suggest transition, balance, faith, unity, temperance, hope, and life.

They represent relationships and synthesis and a need for connection to something, whether that something is group, individual, self, or project related..

As with lines vertical shapes are seen as strong and horizontal shapes are seen as peaceful. Most everything said about vertical and horizontal lines can be said about vertical and horizontal shapes.

Curved shapes offer rhythm and movement, happiness, pleasure and generosity. They are seen as more feminine than sharp shapes which offer energy, violence and, anger. Sharp shapes are lively and youthful and are seen as more masculine.