Lithuanian symbols and meanings

In Lithuanian folklore the alder is a chthonic tree associated with Velnias: freshly cut alder wood quickly reddens as if with blood, and legend explains this redness as the devil's blood; alder grows in wet, low places and was used to color red beer.

In Lithuanian songs and garden culture, the apple tree and apple mean flowering, fertility, love, family continuity, and the fullness of the home garden.

In Lithuanian folklore the lokys or meška, the bear, is a symbol of forest strength, winter, heavy bodily power, and a beast close to humans yet dangerous.

In Lithuanian tradition the bee, hive, and honey bring together diligence, sacred household order, bičiulystė or bee-based friendship, healing sweetness, and the field of the old bee deities Austėja and Bubilas.

In Lithuanian songs and customs the birch is a symbol of whiteness, spring, youth, sensitivity, and sometimes an orphan girl's sorrow, joining the awakening of nature with human feeling.

In Lithuanian folklore the bird is a symbol of message, sky, spring, soul, and boundary: it sings, foretells, returns from afar, and the vėlė is often imagined as a bird flying along the Milky Way to the other world.

In Lithuanian folklore, boat, sea, and bridge form a field of boundary and journey symbols: water separates, the boat carries across, and the bridge lets a person pass into another state.

In Lithuanian ornament, the braid, meander, and band pattern act as symbols of boundary, road, continuous bond, and ordered sequence of signs.

In Lithuanian folklore the butterfly or moth was linked with the human soul and the vėlė, the spirit of the dead: a winged being in which the departing soul could be imagined. A moth flying into the house at night, especially near the sick or dying, was understood as a visiting soul, while the same Lithuanian word drugys also names a shaking fever.

In Lithuanian songs clover is a symbol of greenery, the fullness of the field, youth, refrain rhythm, and luck, often acting as a poetic address.

In Lithuanian tradition crops, rye, and grain mean harvest, bread, earth's fertility, household plenty, communal work, harvest completion rites, and connection with Žemyna and the agricultural cycle.

Cross-crafting, roofed poles, and sunbursts are Lithuanian sacred-space signs in which the Christian cross merges with solar, wooden, road, and local-protection symbolism.

In Lithuanian folklore the crow and raven are birds of death, fate, and prophecy: black carrion-eaters circling homes and cemeteries. The raven or juodvarnis was considered one of the devil's most characteristic forms and a mediator between the worlds of the living and the dead.

In Lithuanian folklore the cuckoo is a symbol of the voice of spring, counting time, questions of fate, and often orphanhood or longing. Its call is used to divine how many years one will live or when one will marry, and in laments it becomes the voice of a grieving mother.

Curonian Lagoon weathervanes are a unique sign of lagoon fishers, serving wind-direction, aesthetic, and identification functions before becoming one of the most vivid symbols of Curonian Lagoon culture.

Dew and the fern flower are strong symbols of Rasos and Joninės: dew is linked with health, harvest, and morning renewal, while the fern flower means hidden knowledge, Perkūnas' fire, and the extraordinary power of summer night.

In Lithuanian tradition the distaff is not only a spinning device, but also a symbol of thread, women's work, a finely made gift, wedding acceptance, flax growth, and the magical power of ornaments.

The distaff board is the decorated board of a spinning wheel, where Lithuanian woodcarving ornaments are especially concentrated: suns, segmented stars, little birds, hearts, and the tree of life.

In Lithuanian folklore the dog is a threshold and chthonic guardian that senses death and the nearness of the other world. A howling or hole-digging dog foretells death, a black dog is often a form of the devil, and 'Perkūnas' dog' is a name for the wolf or a thunder animal.

In Lithuanian tradition the dowry chest is a symbol of home, dowry, a woman's life transition, and decoration, often painted with motifs of the tree of life, heavenly bodies, birds, horses, and grass snakes.

In Lithuanian folklore the duck is a bird of water and the world's beginning. In a tale recorded in Žeimelis, the world comes from a giant duck's egg that breaks into three parts. The duck is also frequent in wedding and dowry songs as a water bird.

The equal-armed cross and crosslets are among the simplest but most important Lithuanian ornaments, joining center, four directions, fire sign, Christian layer, and folk-art rhythm.

In Lithuanian ornament, the net pattern creates a structure of repeated cells, rhombuses, and connections that may mean order, field, abundance, protection, and the gathering of an object's surface.

The rhombus and little eyes are important motifs in Lithuanian textiles and sashes, where a geometric form may mean earth, field, sun, wreath, fire, activity, or a protective gaze.

In Lithuanian songs and symbolism the falcon most often appears as an image of high flight, the young man, nobility, vigor, and a message from afar.

Fir-tree motifs, teeth, and little rakes are small Lithuanian pattern motifs that join plant form, border rhythm, tool imagery, and agrarian order.

The Fire Cross is a rotating-cross type sign whose interpretation emphasizes fire, warmth, vital energy, and protection, but in Lithuanian context its name must be distinguished from the broader history of the swastika form.

The Perkūnas Cross is a swastika-type sign that should be interpreted cautiously; it is connected with the symbolism of Perkūnas, fire, and lightning, but its name in Lithuanian tradition is not as stable as the archaeological motif itself.

In Lithuanian mythology and custom, fire joins sacred fire, the household hearth, Gabija's protection, offering, safety, warmth, danger, and everyday respect for household order.

In Lithuanian tradition flax, thread, and linen connect flax work, the world of women, dowry preparation, the thread of life, cleanliness, and the sacred quality of household textiles.

In Lithuanian folklore the goat is connected with Perkūnas, whose heavenly cart is drawn by goats in legends, and with fertility and harvest rites. During Užgavėnės the goat mask and the performance of its 'death and revival' signify the renewal of vegetation.

In Lithuanian songs, archaeology, and mythological imagery the horse is a symbol of journey, warrior, courtship, solar movement, and fateful return or non-return: from horse sacrifice in old burials to roof horses and the Vytis.

In Lithuanian tradition juniper is a plant of purification and protection: its smoke was used to cleanse homes, barns, livestock, and the house of the dead; it served as a verba and as protection against disease and plague, while its evergreen nature linked it with life and eternity.

Krikštai are wooden grave markers of Lithuania Minor whose symbolism is linked with the World Tree, the soul's journey, birds, horses, little stars, hearts, and remembrance.

Laumė's broom and mistletoe are liminal tree images: one looks like an unusual broom of branches, the other grows on a tree, so both are easily connected with laumės, protection, healing, and strange growth.

In Lithuanian ornament, the Lightning Sign is a sharp zigzag or broken-line motif interpreted through Perkūnas, storm, heavenly fire, and protection, but its meaning depends on context.

In Lithuanian songs the lily often acts as a plant of beauty, purity, youth, and poetic transformation, especially when a human fate is retold in the language of flowers.

In Lithuanian symbolism the linden is linked with care, femininity, family, song poetics, images of Laima, flowering, bees, and a gentler layer of the sacred tree.

In Lithuanian mythology and tradition the oak is a symbol of the sacred tree, strength, lineage, masculine power, Perkūnas, and the sacred grove.

Lithuanian ornaments and patterns are a language of signs in which geometric forms, plants, animals, solar motifs, and fire motifs move through textiles, wooden objects, Easter eggs, and sacred folk art.

Little footprints, cat-paws, and goat-hoof motifs are small track-like Lithuanian patterns that connect ornament with animals, road, the household world, herding, and the movement of life.

Little horses in ornaments connect the mythological importance of the horse with traditions of roofs, lėkiai, woodcarving, and household protection.

The little whirl is an ornament of turning movement, helping explain why cross, sun, wind, and water signs in Lithuanian folk art are often read as living forms of energy.

Little žaltys, little snake, and S pattern are winding-line motifs that in Lithuanian tradition may be connected with the žaltys, household protection, water movement, life, and threshold protection.

In Lithuanian tradition, the margutis and egg are central symbols of spring life, renewal, luck, solar signs, and Easter customs.

In Lithuanian mythology and folklore, the Moon helps explain night light, the cycle of phases, the rhythm of growth and waning, and relationships with the Sun, stars, plants, and human fate.

The Sun and sun wheel are among the strongest symbols in the Lithuanian worldview: they join light, warmth, life, time, calendar festivals, songs, and folk-art ornament.

The nine-antlered stag is a mysterious image in Lithuanian calendar songs and sutartinės: a cosmic winter-festival animal carrying a smith, a trough, or light among its nine antlers and linked with the yearly cycle and the world tree.

In Lithuanian and Prussian folklore the owl is a bird of night and fate: its hooting near the house was considered an omen of death or illness. It is also ambivalent, linked with night vision, warning of danger, and even news of birth.

Paper cuttings are a Lithuanian paper-ornament tradition in which symmetry, cut patterns of light and shadow, plants, birds, and festive household decoration create a light but meaningful symbolic surface.

In Lithuanian tradition the poppy is a plant of sleep, quiet, and contact with the souls of the dead, especially at Kūčios: poppy milk and kūčiukai are shared with returning ancestral souls, while the multitude of seeds also links the poppy with fertility and abundance.

In Lithuanian folklore and custom, the road, gate, and threshold mark passage: from home into the world, from maidenhood into marriage, from the old year into the new, and from the living into remembrance.

Lėkiai and roof horse heads are ornaments of Lithuanian wooden architecture, marking the roof ridge, a protected boundary, bird or horse motifs, and belief in protection from evil.

In Lithuanian folklore the rooster is a bird of dawn and fire: its crowing ends the night and the power of night beings such as laumės, devils, and ghosts, so the rooster protects the home. Its red comb is linked with fire, and the rooster also appears in foundation sacrifice and as a weather vane on roofs.

In Lithuanian songs the rose is an intense flower symbol: it means beauty, love, and youth, but sometimes also blood, death, or remembrance.

The rosette and segmented star are geometric signs of sun and light, especially important in Lithuanian distaff boards, wooden objects, and folk ornament.

The sunburst is one of the most recognizable Lithuanian ornaments, signifying light, sun, the wheel of life, and sacred radiance in folk art, cross-crafting, and wooden objects.

In Lithuanian folklore the rowan is a protective tree guarding people, livestock, and the homestead from witches, laumės, and Velnias; its branches are put on barn doors at Joninės, its stick defends against evil powers, and the devil cannot even pronounce its name.

Rue is the clearest Lithuanian plant of maidenhood and virginity, the green herb most frequently sung in folklore: the rue garden marks a girl's youth, and the rue wreath is removed at the wedding when the girl becomes a wife.

Small birds in ornaments connect Lithuanian bird symbolism with motifs of sky, message, soul, weddings, woodcarving, and textiles.

In Lithuanian ornament the spiral, coil, and fern shoot are associated with growth, the movement of life, renewal, old coiled ornaments, and plant patterns.

In Lithuanian folklore the spruce joins evergreen life, the winter forest, a woman's name, transformation into a tree, and one of the best-known tales, Eglė Queen of Serpents.

In Lithuanian mythology and sacred-place tradition, stone is a sign of memory, offering, boundary, local sacredness, and legend, especially in ritual stones with basins, cup marks, or footprints.

In Lithuanian folklore the stork is a sacred bird of the home, almost a family member: it brings back spring, brings children and luck, and a nest on the homestead was considered a blessing and protection from lightning and fire. Harming a stork or destroying its nest was a grave sin.

Lithuanian straw gardens, or sodai, are an intangible-heritage symbol: a spatial form tied from straw that speaks about household harmony, festive order, cosmos, and human handwork.

In Lithuanian folklore the toad and frog are animals of household luck and fertility: killing them brings misfortune or rain. The toad is linked with the womb and female fertility and can be a form of a witch or laumė, while in wonder tales the frog becomes a bride.

Vilnius verbos are sacred and artistic compositions made from plants, joining Palm Sunday, the vitality of spring plants, household protection, Kaziukas Fair, and the identity of the Vilnius region.

In Lithuanian mythology and folklore, water joins life, cleansing, healing power, springs, rivers, lakes, the boundary between worlds, and the dangerous mystery of depth.

In Lithuanian folklore the wolf is a symbol of the wild boundary, forest threat, predation, and transformation, especially close to werewolf legends. It was also called 'God's dog', and at certain times of year people avoided saying its name.

In Lithuanian and broader Baltic symbolism, the world tree helps explain the structure of the world: branches connect with the sky, the trunk with the human world, and roots with earth, ancestors, and the underworld.

The woven sash is one of the oldest Lithuanian folk textile forms, where thread, pattern, gift, protection, and national identity come together as a wearable language of ornament.

In Lithuanian songs and customs, wreath, rue, and ring signify maidenhood, a festive state, transition, weddings, the power of herbs, remembrance, and the thresholds of human life.

Žaltys is one of the most recognizable symbols of Lithuanian mythology: a sacred household guardian, a sign of vital powers, earth, ancestral memory, and protection of the homestead, also central to the famous Lithuanian tale 'Eglė the Queen of Serpents.'

Zigzag and wavelet are linear Lithuanian ornaments that may mean water, wave motion, movement, boundary, a snake's curve, or the path of lightning, depending on the object and context.