The Serbian Cross is a national symbol of Serbia, part of the Coat of Arms of Serbia, and the flag of Serbia. It is based on, and almost identical to, the tetragrammatic cross emblem of the Byzantine Palaiologos dynasty, with the difference that in Serbian usage the cross is usually white on a red background, rather than gold on a red background (though it can be depicted in gold as well). It is composed of a cross symbol with four stylized letters beta (Β) on each of its corners.
The letters beta are sometimes interpreted as Cyrillic letters C (/s/), or as "firesteels" (ocilo), while Serbian tradition attributes to St. Sava, 12th century metropolitan of Žiča and Archbishop of Serbs, creation of the popular motto from those four letters, Only Unity Saves the Serbs (Serbian: Само слога Србина спасава/Samo sloga Srbina spasava). The actual origin of the beta (Β) symbols is with the Byzantine Empire, most often attributed to the motto of the Palaiologoi: King of Kings, Ruling Over Kings (Greek: βασιλεύς βασιλέων, βασιλεύων βασιλευόντων; Basileus Basileōn, Basileuōn Basileuontōn).
Famous quotes containing the word cross:
“Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face!
Clouds of the west—sun there half an hour
high—I see you also face to face.
Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!
On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning
home, are more curious to me than you suppose,
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)