Coptic cross
<p >There are a variety of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_cross" title="Christian cross" >Cross symbols</a> used by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_Christians" title="Coptic Christians" class="mw-redirect" >Coptic Christians</a>.</p>
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<div class="thumbinner" ><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Original_Coptic_cross.svg" class="image" ><img src="/37faad47-1207-54cc-8ca7-da777461c2e3.png"/></a>
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<div class="magnify" ><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Original_Coptic_cross.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" ></a></div>
Original Coptic cross<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" >[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify" >clarification needed</a></i>]</sup></div>
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<p >The original "Coptic cross" may have been influenced by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankh" title="Ankh" >ankh</a> symbol<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" >[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify" >clarification needed</a></i>]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_cross#cite_note-1" >[1]</a></sup> and was adopted by early <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian" title="Christian" >Christian</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism" title="Gnosticism" >Gnostics</a>, most notably <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentinus(Gnostic)" title="Valentinus (Gnostic)" >Valentinus</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria" title="Alexandria" >Alexandria</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt" >Egypt</a><sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" >[<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" >citation needed</a></i>]</sup>. Old Coptic crosses often incorporate a circle; sometimes large, sometimes small. For the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_Orthodox_Church_of_Alexandria" title="Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria" >Coptic Church</a>, the circle represents the eternal and everlasting love of God, as shown through Christ's crucifixion, Christ's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo(religious_iconography)" title="Halo (religious iconography)" >halo</a> and resurrection.<sup id="cite_ref-thecopticcross_2-0" class="reference" ><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_cross#cite_note-thecopticcross-2" >[2]</a></sup>
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