Category: Headstone Symbols

The “anchor and the cross” is an intriguing tombstone symbol. What does it mean? An anchor often appears on the gravestones of sailors to commemorate a life at sea. But the cross changes its meaning. The anchor-embellished cross is typically a religious symbol; a reminder to be anchored in faith, hope and love while engaging […]

The story of the woman at the well is one of the most iconic encounters in the Bible. It depicts Jesus meeting a Samaritan woman at a well and asking her for a drink of water. The ensuing conversation leads to her acceptance of a Jewish God. The encounter was unusual because Jews and Samaritans […]

The all-seeing eye has become one of the most recognizable symbols of Odd Fellowship in popular culture. It is one of many symbols the Odd Fellows share with the Masons. Both fraternals require a belief in a higher power. Both lean to Judeo-Christian teachings. The all-seeing eye reminds Odd Fellows that God watches them always. […]

The hand of God is a common Victorian tombstone symbol. An index finger pointing up symbolizes the hope of heaven, but what if the finger points down? We needn’t worry about “Dear wife and mother” Fanny Eliza Bence. The downward pointing hand does not doom poor Fanny to eternal damnation. Rather, the hand of God […]

To Victorians, urns on tombstones represented the body as a container for the soul, which then passes on to the afterlife. Urns became popular as funerary ornaments after the Civil War. A Greek Revival swept across the US and brought the omnipresent urn with it as a symbol of structure and democracy. Victorians saw the […]

This popular Victorian headstone symbol is found throughout Union Cemetery, located at 650 Bee Street in Placerville, CA. Its origins trace to a book titled The Gates Ajar, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Published in 1868, just three years after the end of the Civil War, The Gates Ajar tells the story of a young woman […]