Looped square

The ⌘ symbol as seen on a Swedish road sign (No. H22) for national heritage
The ⌘ symbol on a 1977 Finnish 5 penni coin

The looped square (⌘), also known as Saint John's Arms, Saint Hannes cross (related to Swedish sankthanskors, Danish johanneskors, and Finnish hannunvaakuna), and as the command-key symbol due to its use on the command key on Apple computer keyboards, is a symbol consisting of a square with outward pointing loops at its corners. It is referred to as a looped square, for example, in works regarding the Mississippian culture[1] (approximately 800 CE to 1600 CE). It is also known as the place of interest sign[2] when used on information signs, a practice that started in Finland in the 1950s, spreading to the other Nordic countries in the 1960s.[3]

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]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tennessee Encyclopedia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Miscellaneous Technical – Range: 2300-23FF" (PDF). Unicode Consortium.
  3. ^ "Riksantikvarieämbetets historia". raa.se (in Swedish). Riksantikvarieämbetet - Swedish National Heritage Board. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  4. ^ Coat of arms for Lødingen Municipality, blazoned in the Norwegian Royal Decree of 11 May 1984, quoted in Hans Cappelen og Knut Johannessen: Norske kommunevåpen, Oslo 1987, page 197. The term is also used in Anders Bjønnes: Segltegninger fra hyllingene i Norge 1591 og 1610, Oslo 2010, pages 64–65.