COMMON CARVINGS ON GRAVESTONES

 

The next time your out walking through cemeteries, notice the artwork that goes into the design of gravestones. Here are some meanings that those symbols represent.

 

Anchor:

Grave of seafarer and/or a symbol of hope.

Angel:

Afterlife in heaven.

Bamboo:

Longevity

 

Broken column:

Mourning.

Buutterfly:

Resurrection.

Clasped hands:

Farewell and friendship.

Crosses:

Symbol of Christianity.

Crown:

Reward in heaven or a noble person.

Dove:

Holy spirit or peace.

Dragon:

Etrnity or royalty.

Effigy:

Remembering the dead person with an image.

Flowers:

Love, beauty, brevity of life.

Heart:

Love.

Hourglass:

Inevitability of death.

Ivy:

Remembrance of friendship.

Lamb:

Purity, innocence; typically used for children.

Lilly:

Purity.

Lion:

For Chinese people one of the four animals of power and bravery.

Nature Images:

Love of nature.

Peony:

Honor, love, or affection.

Pheasant:

Beauity and good fortune.

Praying hands:

Piety.

Sheaves of wheat:

Abundant life or final harvest.

Skull with or without crossbones:

Finality of death.

Star of David:

Symbol of Judaism.

Tree trunks with broken branches:

Life cut short.

Urn:

Death and mourning.

Violets:

Humanity.

Willow:

Weeping and sorrow of survivors.