Tursaansydän means the 'heart of Tursas' and in Finnish mythology, Tursas (alias Iku-Turso and a few other names) was a rather unpleasant sea-monster that supposedly looked a bit like a bearded octopus. Another name for the same symbol is Mursunsydän, which means 'heart of the Walrus'. For a long time, especially in Northern Europe, the symbol has been considered a Good Luck charm.
Finnish Knot - Ancient Finnish symbol - Hannunvaakuna - Kalevala Koru - Good Luck symbol
Saint John's Arms - Finnish and Swedish Looped Square
The looped square (⌘) is a symbol consisting of a square with outward pointing loops at its corners. It is referred to by this name, for example, in works regarding the Mississippian culture.[1]It is also known as the place of interest sign[2] when used on information signs, a practice which started in Finland in the 1950s, spreading to the other Nordic countries in the 1960s.[3] Also, the symbol is known as Saint John's Arms or Saint Hannes cross (related to Swedish sankthanskors, Danish johanneskors, and Finnish hannunvaakuna), as Gorgon loop, and as command key symbol due to its use on the command key on Apple computer keyboards.
It is an ancient symbol used by several cultures, and remains in common use today. It belongs to a class of symbols which are called valknute in Norway.[4]
Ancient use
The symbol appears on a number of old objects in Northern Europe. It features prominently on a picture stone from Hablingbo, Gotland, Sweden, that was created between 400 and 600 AD.[5]
In Finland, the symbol was painted or carved on houses and barns, and domestic utensils such as tableware, to protect them and their owners from evil spirits and bad luck. The oldest surviving example is a pair of 1000-year-old (Finnish pre-Christian period) wooden skis decorated with the symbol.[7][8]
The looped square also appears on artifacts of the Mississippian culture of the southeastern United States.[1]
Modern use
In modern times, the symbol is commonly found in Ukraine, Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden as an indicator of locations of cultural interest, beginning in Finland in the 1950s and spreading to the other Nordic countries in the 1960s.[3] There has been modern speculation that it was chosen for its resemblance to an aerial view of Borgholm Castle;[9] however, the symbol is well-represented in Scandinavian artifacts that predate the current castle by centuries.[5]
The symbol later gained international recognition via computing. It is used on Apple keyboards as the symbol for the command key.[10]
