The Real Cross Constantine Saw

The story of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity is well known. Shortly before the final battle for the throne of the Roman Empire, in which the forces of his rival Maxentius was twice the size of Constantine’s, Constantine had a dream or vision in which according to the early church father, Eusebius "he saw with his own eyes in the heavens a trophy of the cross arising from the light of the sun, carrying the message, In Hoc Signo Vinces or "with this sign, you will conquer"

Constantine subsequently ordered his men to paint this symbol on their shields, successfully defeated Maxentius and became the first Christian Emperor of the Roman Empire.

The interesting bit of this story we are considering today is the cross which Constantine claimed he saw.
When most Christians think of the cross, the symbol which instantly comes to mind is the popular “Christian cross”, and it is generally assumed by people who haven’t gone down this line of research that this was the cross Constantine saw.

This belief is logically based on the fact that since the cross was the symbol on which Jesus was crucified, it had to be the symbol that Constantine saw.

Virtually all illustrations in children and adult books and even in art works perpetuate this misconception which is actually not hidden, but is a little known fact.

The cross Constantine saw is known as the Chi-Ro. It consists of an X overlaid with a P inside, often surrounded by a round or oval frame.  It is formed by superimposing the first two capital letters (Chi for X and Ro for P) of the Greek word for Christ. It is sometimes called the labarum, the word for the banner Constantine carried into battle that bore this symbol.

The Chi-Ro is no longer a symbol that modern Christians will associate with their religion but it was obviously well known at the time of Constantine.

According to Roman historian Lactantius, Constantine was visited by God in a dream the night before the battle, wherein he was advised "to mark the heavenly sign of God on the shields of his soldiers ... by means of a slanted letter X with the top of its head bent round, he marked Christ on their shields.” Also, according to early church father Eusebius who also says he saw the symbol on the banner which Constantine carried into battle, “Now it was made in the following manner. A long spear, overlaid with gold, formed the figure of the cross by means of a transverse bar laid over it. On the top of the whole was fixed a wreath of gold and precious stones; and within this, the symbol of the Savior’s name, two letters indicating the name of Christ by means of its initial characters, the letter P being intersected by X in its centre…”

This BreezyFact will be incomplete if we don’t mention that the Chi-Ro predates Christianity. Coins minted during the time of Ptolemy III 200 years before the time of Christ bear the Chi-Ro symbol. It was also used by pagan scribes to mark in a margin a valuable or relevant passage, pretty much as we use an asterisk to mark important information in modern times.

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Sources
1.  The Chi-Rho Symbol, Chrestos and the Cross
2. Labarum (Chi-Rho)
3. Chi-Rho (Monogram of Christ)