---
title: Fish-Shaped Brooches
author: Swiss National Museum
source: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/9882/fish-shaped-brooches/
format: machine-readable-alternate
license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
updated: 1970-01-01
---

# Fish-Shaped Brooches

_Authored by Swiss National Museum_

## Image File

[![Fish-Shaped Brooches](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/9882.jpg)](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/9882.jpg)

## Image Caption

Fish-shaped brooches. [Gold](https://www.worldhistory.org/gold/), [silver](https://www.worldhistory.org/Silver/), with almandine (a precious stone) and glass inlays. c. 500 CE. Bülach. Canton of Zurich. In [early Christianity](https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1205/early-christianity/), the fish was used as a secret sign of identification amongst believers. The [Greek](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/greek/) word for fish, “ichthus”, is made up of the first letters of the words in the phrase “Jesus Christ, Son of [God](https://www.worldhistory.org/God/), Saviour” in Greek.

#### Editorial Review

This human-authored image has been reviewed by our editorial team before publication to ensure accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards in accordance with our [editorial policy](https://www.worldhistory.org/static/editorial-policy/).

## Cite This Work

### APA
Museum, S. N. (2019, January 21). Fish-Shaped Brooches. *World History Encyclopedia*. <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/9882/fish-shaped-brooches/>
### Chicago
Museum, Swiss National. "Fish-Shaped Brooches." *World History Encyclopedia*, January 21, 2019. <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/9882/fish-shaped-brooches/>.
### MLA
Museum, Swiss National. "Fish-Shaped Brooches." *World History Encyclopedia*, 21 Jan 2019, <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/9882/fish-shaped-brooches/>.

## License & Copyright

© [Swiss National Museum](https://www.nationalmuseum.ch). Republished with permission. Original image by **Swiss National Museum**. Submitted by [Jan van der Crabben](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/jvdc/ "User Page: Jan van der Crabben"), published on 21 January 2019. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.