The Ichthus Fish

Often I’ve noticed the Christian symbol of a fish on the back of automobiles and wondered what the symbol represented. After doing some research, I’ve found that the word fish derives from the Greek word Ichthus. Moreover, Ichthus is a Christian acronym for “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”:

I (Iota in Greek) is the first letter of Iesous (Greek for Jesus)

Ch (Chi in Greek) is the first letter of Christos (Greek for Christ)

Th (Theta in Greek) is the first letter of Theou (Greek for God)

U (Upsilon in Greek) is the first letter of Huios (Greek for Son)

S (Sigma in Greek) is the first letter of Soter (Greek for Savior)

It’s believed that in early times, during the first 3 centuries, Christians endured great persecution from the Roman Empire - before Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. At this time, Christians used the symbol of the fish to mark safe locations for Christians to meet and acknowledge or identify other fellow Christians. Historical stories mention that when one Christian met another in public, one would draw the top arc of the fish in the dirt and the other Christian would finish the fish by drawing the bottom arc, thereby symbolizing mutual faith in Christianity.

Here is a link to a short video that further explains the origin of the Christian fish symbol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmQC5JqJ7FE.