Where does the "P" with "X" symbol come from?

Where does the “P” with “X” symbol come from?

Where does it come from, who made it, what does it mean?


I heard a claim that Constantine created the symbol from a vision he had… Anyone heard of this myth and how much weight it has; if any?


Thank you! :thumbsup:

You are very welcome.

The P is Greek Rho, or R.

The **X ** is Greek **Chi, **or CH.

Together, they spell CHR, or the first two letters of the name CHRISTOS (XPICTOC).

This was a common way of abbreviating names back then.


That’s the same X as in Xmas, by the way.
Merriam-Webster.com: Christmas vs. Xmas

PX. The P stands for “Post” as in a military base. The X stands for “Exchange.” The PX is the Exchange (or store) on a military base.

Yep. As X-Windows users used to say:

Let’s put the X back in Christmas!

I heard a funny story that a child told a teacher, that the P symbol with the X through it, meant "No parking…

Xmas removes the name Christ in Christmas


the first two letters of “Christ” in Greek (Christos). P with an X.*** Not*** P alone and not X alone


Could be Windows XP.

Strange it isn’t XPmas

Where does it come from?

It stands for “Christ,” Christos.

The symbol was already used before Christianity came along as abbreviations for the Greek words chrēstos (“good” or “useful”), chronos (“time”), or for that matter, pretty much any other Greek word that began with chr-. It was Constantine, however, that popularized the chi-rho (which is what it’s called) as a Christian and imperial symbol.

There’s also a pun involved: the word χρηστός chrēstos in Byzantine Greek is pronounced almost exactly the same as Χρίστος Christos due to a vowel shift that occurred in the language.
