Hexafoil

Bartfeld (2005) describes the construction: "This design consists of circles having a 1-[inch] radius, with each point of intersection serving as a new center.

It is attested from at least the beginning of the Late Bronze Age,[2] represented, for example, on ornamental golden disks found in Shaft Grave III at Mycenae (16th century BC).

[5] It is also found in some Cantabrian stelae, dated to the Iron Age, as well as Norwegian bronze kettles from the same period[6] The six-petal rosette is common in 17th to 20th century folk art throughout Europe.

In Portugal, it is common to find it in medieval churches and cathedrals, as the engraved signature of a mason; but also as decoration and symbol of protection on the chimneys of old houses in Alentejo (at times together with the lauburu, or with the pentagram).

In Galicia (Spain) and all the Cantabrian Mountains, hexafoils are found since the Iron Age in torc terminals and decoration, and is still used in folk art.

[6] The use of the hexafoil as a folk magic symbol was brought from the United Kingdom to Australia by settlers, where six leaf designs with concentric circles have been found in homes and occasionally in public buildings to serve as a sign of protection.

[6] In the Tatra mountains, southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, the mark was commonly carved on roof beams inside peasant huts.

Peralta Labrador (1989) cites a proposal according to which the design in the La Tène (Celtic) period was a solar symbol associated with the god Taranis.

Garshol (2021) suggests that the rosette is actually a wheel with spokes, and that it originally signified the Proto-Indo-European thunder god Perkwunos, later becoming associated with his various incarnations, such as Perun, Tarḫunz, Taranis, Thor, and Jupiter.

[6] The name hexafoil is sometimes also used to refer to a different geometric design that is used as a traditional element of Gothic architecture,[21] created by overlapping six circular arcs to form a flower-like image.