IHS
A monogram of the name of Jesus, from the first letters of his name in Greek. With a cross above the H and three nails below, it is the emblem of the Jesuits.
Meaning
IHS abbreviates IHSOUS, Jesus in Greek. On many icons the last letter is the Greek final sigma, giving IHC; the Roman S came later, and a line over the letters marks the abbreviation. The letters were later misread as Latin initials, such as Iesus Hominum Salvator, “Jesus, Saviour of men”, a reading the Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) calls wrong. The Franciscans’ own account of Bernardino of Siena still glosses it that way.
Origin and history
From early on Christian inscriptions shortened the holy names, writing IC and XC or IHS and XPS for Iesous Christos. The monogram grew popular with devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus after the 12th century, and by the end of the Middle Ages IHS had become a symbol much as the Chi-Rho had been under Constantine. Bernardino of Siena (d. 1444) would hold it up to his audience at the end of his sermons. His order, the Franciscans, tells how he preached with IHS painted on wooden tablets in gold and blue, with a cross above it and a sun around it, and urged people to carve it on the doors of their homes and public buildings, where some still are. Detractors called the devotion idolatry: in 1426 he was accused of heresy, summoned to Rome by Pope Martin V, tried and acquitted. In 1541 Ignatius of Loyola put it on his seal as general of the Society of Jesus, and it became the Jesuits’ emblem: IHS with a cross above, three nails below, often in a sunburst.
How the cross got onto the H
In northern France the monogram was written in small letters, ihs, and the abbreviation line was drawn through the h, making a cross. When capitals came back, people didn’t want to lose the cross, so they set it on the crossbar of the H.
Where you’ll see it
On Jesuit churches, schools and seals, and on the arms of Geneva, whose 15th-century crest is a half-risen sun bearing IHS in Greek letters.
See also
Chi-Rho, Chi-Rho, Skull and crossbones, Latin cross, Orthodox cross, Jerusalem cross.
Sources
- IHS, The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907–1912), via New Advent
- The Seal of the Society of Jesus, Manresa (Jesuit stamps collection)
- St Bernardine of Siena, Order of Friars Minor (ofm.org)
Last reviewed September 24, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research