Saint symbolism

[1] Each saint is said to have led an exemplary life and symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church.

[2] A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem, in order to identify them.

Orthodox images more often contained inscriptions with the names of saints, so the Eastern repertoire of attributes is generally smaller than the Western.

[4] The use of a symbol in a work of art depicting a Saint reminds people who is being shown and of their story.

Her attributes include amongst many others a mantle (often in blue or very large to cover the faithful), crown of 12 stars, serpent, sun and/or moon, heart pierced by sword, Madonna lily, roses, and rosary beads.

Dutch Book of Prayers from the mid-fifteenth century showing a group of five saints, with their emblems: Saint James the Great (wearing a pilgrim's hat); Saint Joseph ; Saint Ghislain (holding a church); Saint Eligius (bishop with a crosier, holding a hammer); Saint Hermes (with the armor and the sword)
The symbols of the four Evangelists are here depicted in the Book of Kells . The winged man, lion, eagle and bull symbolize, clockwise from top left, Matthew , Mark , John , and Luke .