You’ve seen the confusion: a heavy metal band uses a zigzag cross for their logo, and suddenly everyone thinks they’re satanic. Nope, that’s just lightning pretending to be holy. Meanwhile, souvenir shops sell “Celtic lightning crosses” that would make a historian spit out their tea. It’s a beautiful, stupid mess. My favorite example? In the 1980s, a Japanese toy company accidentally printed crosses on a “thunder god” action figure. Kids thought it was a priest. The god got recalled. True story. Zigzags and crosses are the comedy duo of symbols: one is hyperactive, the other is stoically awkward.
Arrow and Lightning Icons Silhouette. ZigZag Line. 56198223 Vector Art
Fun with Emojis and Flag Etiquette
Think about your phone keyboard. The lightning bolt emoji (⚡) is just a chunky zigzag that means “Speed” or “Watch out, Thor!” The cross emoji (✝) means “faith,” unless you’re in a hospital, where it’s a depressing Wi-Fi signal. But here’s the kicker: in some cultures, a zigzag is forbidden on flags because it looks like a “broken cross.” Countries like Switzerland and Finland got so worried about this that they banned zigzag patterns near their national crosses. Meanwhile, the state of Arizona slapped a giant zigzag (read: sunset) on their flag, and nobody cared. Priorities, people!
