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A saltire is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred on such a cross. It appears in numerous flags, including those of Scotland and Jamaica, and other coats of arms and seals. A variant, also appearing on many past and present flags and symbols, is the Cross of Burgundy flag. A warning sign in the shape of a saltire is also used to indicate the point at which a railway line intersects a road at a level crossing. In Unicode, the cross is encoded at . See X mark#Unicode for similar symbols that might be more accessible. == Christian symbol == The saltire appears on ''vexilla'' that are represented consistently on coinage of Christian emperors of Rome, beginning in the fourth century. Anne Roes found it on coins of Constantius II, Valentinian, Jovian, Gratianus, Valens, Arcadius, Constantine III, Jovinus, Theodosius I, Eugenius and Theodosius II, though she searched only coins at the British Museum.〔Anne Roes, "An Iranian standard used as a Christian symbol", ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', 57.2 (1937), pp. 248–51〕 In the ninth and tenth century the saltire was revived in Constantinople as a symbol of Christian-imperial power. Anne Roes detected the symbol, which often appears with balls in the quadrants formed by the arms of the chi-cross, in standards that appear on the coins of Persepolis. She suggested that early Christians endorsed its solar symbolism as appropriate to Christ. She also wrote: "although it cannot be proved, ... in the white saltire of St. Andrew we still have a reminiscence of the old standard of the Persepolitan kingdom".〔Roes 1937:251.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「saltire」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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