Trefoil (from Latin trifolium, "three-leaved plant", French trèfle, German Dreiblatt and Dreiblattbogen) is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism. The term is also applied to other symbols of three-fold shape.
Architecture
Architectural Trefoil (also a Christian symbol)
Trefoil is a term in Gothic architecture given to the ornamental foliation or cusping introduced in the heads of window-lights, tracery, panellings, etc., in which the center takes the form of a three-lobed leaf (formed from three partially-overlapping circles). One of the earliest examples is in the plate tracery at Winchester (1222 - 1235). The fourfold version of an architectural trefoil is a quatrefoil.
A trefoil combined with an equilateral triangle was also a moderately common symbol of the Christian Trinity during the late Middle Ages in some parts of Europe. Two forms of this are shown below:
A dove, symbolic of the Holy Spirit, is sometimes depicted within the outlined form of the trefoil combined with a triangle.
Heraldry
The heraldic trefoil is a stylized clover.
It should not be confused with the figure named in French heraldry tiercefeuille, which is a stylized flower with three petals. It differs from the heraldic trefoil in being not slipped. It could be translated as threefoil[1].
|
|
Or a fess sable between three trefoils vert
|
Gules a cross flory argent between four threefoils or
|
Symbols
Trademark
The green trefoil is registered under international trade-mark conventions as a symbol of Ireland. Shamrocks do not appear on Irish coins, bank-notes or postage stamps, as a rule.
Other meanings
- A trefoil formation is a cross-sectional arrangement of electrical cables that minimises electrodynamic forces during fault conditions.
See also
External links
References
- ^ See [1]. The French terms quartefeuille and quintefeuille are translated as quatrefoils and cinquefoils.
|
.svg)
