From the dawn of mankind symbols have served as a form of communication. We can see evidence of this in Egyptian art and even further back to Neanderthals cave paintings and engravings. These icons sparked innovation and conveyed ideas without the need for words.

The most iconic icon of all time is the cross. For over 2000 years this symbol has been used around the globe. The cross originated in early Christianity and has spread through faith and missionary work. This symbol holds a thousand stories of love, hate, persecution, and triumph.

Although we see the cross as a common symbol found in every town, there was a time when this was not the case. Early Christians we hunted and tortured in gruesome ways. They had to gather in secrecy and would often draw the cross in the sand to recognize each other, like a codeword. It was because of these horrific fates mixed with unwavering devotion to their faith that the cross has become such a powerful symbol and why over 2.6 billion people worldwide believe in Jesus.

My takeaway from this history lesson is that even the simplest icons can be powerful enough to make the king bend a knee. The real question is “How to create an icon just as powerful as the cross without horrific deaths?” After all, there is another symbol almost just as recognizable and it to bears the weight of millions of horrific deaths…