Whether for romantic love or to express love for another person or object; When we need to use an image, the first thing that comes to our minds will be the heart symbol. Now we all know that the heart symbol, which is indispensable in the popular world, has nothing to do with real heart anatomy. So what happened that this unusual shape turned into a heart symbol over time?
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to the question of where the heart symbol comes from, which can be explained in a few sentences. Because, like many images that have become popular culture objects today, the heart symbol had a different meaning in the early days. Over time, it gained the meaning of love and affection as we know it today. Let’s take a closer look at the history of the heart symbol through the question of where the heart symbol comes from.
The first heart symbol in history:
The Indus Civilization or the Indus Valley Civilization, which is estimated to have lived between 3300 and 1300 BC in today’s Afghanistan borders Among his remains, the first necklace with a heart symbol in history was found. The heart shape in this necklace consisted of intertwined vines. It is known that the ivy represented loyalty at that time. Although not certain, the first heart symbol in history may represent sacrament.
We encounter the heart symbol a few hundred years after the Indus Valley Civilization, this time in Cyrene, an ancient Roman city on the borders of present-day Libya. The heart-shaped plant silphium has been seen on silver coins found in Cyrene. It is known that the silphium plant and its seeds are used as a birth control method. In other words, in the 5th and 6th centuries BC, the heart symbol was used in connection with sex, although it is not certain.
The use of the heart symbol in the sense of love and affection:
We see that the first heart symbols used in history were not as romantic as they are today. The use of the heart symbol in the sense of love and affection was first realized at the end of the Middle Ages. Before the 14th century, the heart symbol was associated with the fig leaf with many different meanings and was even used in heraldry. Even geometric studies have been done on the heart symbol.
The first work in which the heart symbol is used in the sense of love is a manuscript named Roman de la poire dated 1250. In the image found in this manuscript, a young man hands a young woman an inverted heart symbol, which was anatomically likened to a pine cone at that time. Although not certain, this visual used in Roman de la poire is the first expression in which the heart symbol expresses love.
We see a similar use in a painting in Scrovegni Chapel, dated to 1305. This painting by Giotto shows the heart symbol being dedicated to Jesus Christ. We encounter examples of the heart symbol used in the sense of devotion in the religious sense in many paintings made in the same century. Since the human heart was likened to a pine cone at that time, it is possible to see such a heart symbol in all paintings.
Use of the heart symbol in later periods:
It is possible to encounter the heart symbol frequently in Renaissance and other early modern works. This usage became widespread, inspired by a Persian mural dating back to 90 BC. The symbol of the heart can also be found on the Luther Rose seal, designed for Martin Luther in 1530 by the order of Prince John Frederick.
Until the 18th century, the heart symbol was often depicted in the form of the sacred heart. There are numerous heart symbols drawn along with the crown, flame, light, and cross commonly used in Christianity. In fact, the heart symbol can be seen on some works made in Japan in the same period. Since it is frequently used in heraldic symbols, we have started to encounter hearts in playing cards since the 15th century.
Today, the use of the heart symbol:
In time, the heart symbol has ceased to be a visual expressing divine love, and has become a concept of romantic love, on which much more commercial commodities can be produced. It has become an expression. Since the 19th century, we have started to encounter the heart symbol in chocolate boxes, Valentine’s Day cards and many other popular culture objects.
The symbol of the heart quickly became widespread with the 1977 campaign in which the heart was used instead of the verb love in the phrase I Love New York. The heart symbol was also used to mean life and health. So much so that Super Mario Bros., which left its mark on the 1980s. For the first time in game 2, the character’s life count was shown with heart symbols. Since then, we all know what happened.
The use of the heart symbol in different areas:
The heart symbol has been used in the coats of arms of noble European dynasties throughout history. We encounter the first heraldic coat of arms with the heart symbol in the 12th century. The hearts on the coat of arms of this dynasty in the Kingdom of Denmark depict lotus leaves. So it doesn’t show love or affection, but that dynasty is close to the river.
With the heart symbol gaining the meaning of the sacred heart, a heart symbol was used in almost every heraldry in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. Since today’s European countries still carry the traces of these dynasties, when you go to a European city, it is possible to encounter the heart symbol even in a local municipality coat of arms.
We encounter another use of the heart symbol in ancient botany. The fruit and seeds of silphium, which are thought to be extinct today, are shown with the symbol of the heart. You may remember the Silphium fruit from silver coins made in the 5th and 6th centuries.
What does the shape of the heart symbol mean?
Unfortunately, there is no definite answer to the question of where the shape of the heart symbol, which has gained the meaning of loyalty, sex, sacred love and finally romantic love throughout history, comes from. In the earliest example we have, we see hearts made of ivy, later likened to some objects in nature.
As it is today, many people throughout history have compared the shape of the heart symbol to women’s breasts, women’s hips and different sexual organs due to its curved structure. Oddly enough, other people looking at the same heart symbol have compared it to the human heart, which Ancient Greek philosophers described as having three chambers. In other words, there is a shape in the middle and it can be pulled in that direction whatever it is compared to.
We talked about the different meanings that the heart symbol, which we use today as a symbol of all kinds of love and affection, comes from, in history. You can share your thoughts about the heart symbol in the comments.
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