These days it’s hard to miss the cross trend that has emerged onto the fashion scene recently. Does this trend carry a hidden message? The “cross” look is showing up everywhere and is available at many of the popular clothing stores. With so many trends coming and going, it’s easy to get caught up in something without knowing it’s meaning. Beware, because if you find yourself buying this latest fashion invention, you could have more than the fashion police on your case.
What does the upside down cross mean? Historically, it is the cross of St. Peter or Simon Peter. Peter was one of the original 12 apostles that followed Jesus Christ. When Peter was sentenced to death by the Emperor, he requested to be hung upside down. Peter felt that he was not worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus Christ did which was on a cross right side up. Later, the Catholic religion adopted the upside down cross as a symbol of the church, since Catholics believe that the pope is Peter’s successor, as Bishop of Rome. In more recent years however, satanists use the upside down cross as their way to show their anti-Christian beliefs. Today, the upside down cross is highly unaccepted by Christian organizations and considered to be satanic.
If you are a Christian, should you be wearing this trend? The answer is no. Christians should avoid participating in this trend as it symbolizes satanism and idolatry. Even if you are doing it in the spirit of fashion, to wear something even if you don’t believe in it means you are neither here nor there, the bible calls that being “lukewarm”. “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water I will spit you out of my mouth!” (Revelation 3:15-16) The upright cross is the only symbol that can be accepted by Christians, since it was by that means that Jesus brought us salvation.
Another area of this trend to beware of is upright crosses being used on apparel that is intended to mock or provoke Christianity. For example, in the collage above I found panties, panty hose and shirt with two crosses inappropriately positioned to highlight the breasts. When a Christian wears a cross, it should be in remembrance of Jesus Christ. To wear a cross for any other reason is morbid and a mockery of Christianity.
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XOXOXO,
Desiring Eden
Desiring Eden 
thank you for posting this! i liked the trend but a part of it seemed questionable. Thanks for exlpaining!
I’m glad it was beneficial to you! Thanks for reading 😉
Wow this helps a lot. I saw a friend with cross earrings at a party and every time they were upright she would keep turning them upside down. Im a Christian, but I wasn’t sure if she was just following the trend or mocking Christianity. This article helps me understand and I know now to avoid this trend.
HAIL SATAN!!
I love you
Thanks for the great read. I will share with my girls.
Thanks for reading Leticia!
Thank you for the info. I love this trend but didnt know the meaning of the upside down cross…now i’ll only buy the upright cross in any fashion item. God bless!
Thank you so much for your comments Yvette! So glad to hear this was useful to you 🙂
Thank you for the info you confirmed my suspions
I’m glad it was helpful, thank you for your comment!
My favorite band (black veil brides) have products that have the right side up AND upside down cross. They believe In god though. And I’m catholic. Do u think it’s bad if I wear their products with both types of crosses? (I’m just wearing them to show my love for the band.)
Thank you so much for your question L.. I will be happy to answer it. First, I believe you are on a mission to find the truth and your concern for respecting for God is very encouraging. After researching your favorite band, it didn’t take me long to figure out that The Black Veil Brides are deeply rooted in satanism. They are covered in symbolism of the occult such as a ouija board guitar, 666 on their clothing, bodies, etc., pentagrams and other like symbols.. oh and their lyrics are blatantly satanic. On their album “Set the World on Fire” they have one song in particular called “Fallen Angels”.. where they are glorifying demons and their fall from heaven. I would say that a believer in Jesus Christ as yourself should reconsider your love for this band. Sorry, I know that’s not what you want to hear since it sounds like you really like them 🙂 Use your best judgment there.
As for wether or not you should wear clothing with crosses upside down even if just in support for a band..according to what I wrote in this article, yes it would be bad.. but so is lying, cheating, stealing, cursing and every other sin that every one of us commits every day of our lives. You have a relationship with Christ and every day your goal should be to get closer to Him. The Holy Spirit will lead you to recognize the sin that needs to be eliminated from your life at just the right time. We cannot be perfect and never will but you are on a journey to become the best you can be on this earth. If you are feeling uneasy about wearing those upside down crosses, I would listen to that good voice in your head to do what you know is right in order to please God. Many people such as the Black Veil Brides can claim to believe in God.. of course! Satan & his demons are the biggest believers in God because they were cast out of heaven by Him. It is one thing to believe in the existence of God, it is another thing to follow & uphold the ways of God, especially by believing in His Son Jesus Christ. In other words we can’t be “fans” of Christ we must be “followers”. I hope I have helped you with your question.
Oh my God, I really appreciate how you took the serious time, effort and love to answers this girl’s question. There’s a lot of wisdom in your words. May God continue to use you 🙂
Great article, DesiringEden
This is y I looked this up too
Thank you for reading!
Well in the first place you shouldn’t even be listening to unholy songs such as black veil, they do not even believe in God. And no, you shouldn’t support it either. because if they believe in the upside down cross, do you seriously believe they’re supporters of God?
Black Veil Brides don’t believe in God. He said in a LoudWire interview, “I’m not a religious person, but I grew up in a religious family.”
Thanks for the accurate information. It strikes me as being strange that Christians today would seek to bear any symbol other than that of Jesus Christ. ‘Christian’ means follower of Christ, not Peter, not Mary, or any other saint. It was Christ who died on the cross for us, no one else; our eyes should be fixed on Him. HAIL THE LAMB OF GOD!!!
Thanks for your comment Tish! In Hosea 4:6 it states “my people will perish from a lack of knowledge”. I agree with you and it makes me sad to think that so many are lost. Thank you so much for your heart and support! xoxoxo
thank you for this post. this trend has bothered me for several months now. i feel as if people are blatantly unaware of what they’re really wearing. i personally research about conspiracies regarding the ties between today’s culture and a more darker meaning. the first time i saw this fashion trend i couldnt help but relate the two,
Yes, I agree with you completely.. The bible tells us that this is a sign of the end times.. in 1 Timothy 4:1-2 it states that even believers will turn away from the true faith accepting doctrines taught by demons.. This fashion trend is the handy work of the evil one no doubt.
People need to stop turning nothing into a big thing. Like the information said, only recently did churches make the upside down cross a “satanic” symbol. It says nothing in the bible about upside down crosses being an evil symbol. Saying this is a symbol of Satan is like saying the Bible’s teachings are all wrong. Wearing this does not make you a non-believer or a minion of Satan. If anything, it is the opposite. I have worn this several times at church meetings and no one felt bothered, even the priest complimented on it.
Thanks for your comment Copper! Since I first posted this article in February, this post has been viewed almost 5000 times! It’s amazing to me how many people are researching this trend right now. The top questions entered into the search engine for my post are things like, “are wearing upside down crosses bad?”. While I appreciate the responses in favor of my opinion, I equally enjoy hearing from people with your perspective. I’m not sure how you stumbled upon this post whether by chance or choice.. I am just glad that you could still walk away with something even if its not in agreement with what was written. Yes, I think some people do make a big deal about things but that is to be expected when we are talking about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the no. 1 researched, documented, talked about figure in all of history. People are passionate about Jesus and since he is the the savior of the world this is to be expected. As followers of Christ we don’t always have to agree on things EXCEPT that he is the one and only savior and the only way to get to heaven.
I am a Catholic and consider myself a very spiritual person. I am always thrown back by the believe that anyway who does not believe in Christ will not be saved. I have a few jewish friends who are beautiful people inside and out and spiritual also. How could an all loving God damn good people to Hell because of this?
Honestly I really think it just depends on how you wear the symbol. Any way you wear it, if you wear it because you love Jesus, and want to display that love, then it shouldn’t be a problem. However if you wear it as a fashion statement or to denote mockery to the Christian faith, that is when it would be a problem.
I appreciate ur comment, not all people are blind 2 what the symbol means, like me, i know exactly what it represents. christians, for years have been turning things that they don’t believe in, into -evil- or steal others’ beliefs, they say don’t judge, but most of them do, especially if you don’t believe the same as they do. i wear the symbol myself, i know what it means and why i wear it, not all of us are ignorant. i am also not a satanist.
Another thing, jesus DID NOT die on the cross, he lived and died later at an old age. plus most of the bible has been changed, books have been pulled out, and things have been re-written, alot of the gospels have been taken out. do your research.
Hi Kat L! Thank you so much for your comment! I welcome everyone’s opinion and I am glad you were comfortable enough to share yours. You posted two very important comments that I would like to discuss and please forgive me if its lengthy but you did have some good comments.
1st I’m sorry to hear that you have this bad opinion about Christians. I am ashamed to say that according to statistics the number one reason people turn to atheism is because of a bad experience with Christianity. It’s true many Christians are judgmental. This is exactly how the pharisees treated Jesus. You see people get so caught up in analyzing words and symbolism that they lose sight of the big picture. Most Christians sadly believe that they can earn their way into heaven by their good deeds. They judge others by their deeds too. There are many verses in the bible that clearly tell us that God is not saving us because of our good deeds. In fact, there is no good deed that could ever make us righteous enough to enter into heaven.
This was the reason for Jesus. Jesus was not just some man… He was God walking among us. Why would the creator of the universe insert himself into the womb of a virgin only to die on a cross? He could have come in as king? Instead he chose to come in the form of a carpenter, a wanderer to be rejected and hated. You see, I can’t relate to a king but I can relate to Jesus. He wanted to be relatable to all so that all could be saved not just the rich and famous. The evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ and the cross is compelling, incredible and real. There were countless eye witness testimonies and scientific evidence to prove its reality. Just because we were dealing with ancient times doesn’t mean we weren’t keeping records. The Romans and Greeks were some of the most intelligent people of all time. They kept impeccable records through the centuries and hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of people have died fighting to preserve the bible.
But the real reason I believe in the bible is this… Simply, the creator of the universe needed a way to communicate with his creation. Since the premise of the bible is faith (believing without seeing) he couldn’t just show himself to us. We actually would probably die if God ever showed himself to us. He created the bible so we could learn about him. Do you think that the creator of the universe really needs our help preserving his book? Truth is God doesn’t need us at all! We need him. He created every one of us with an empty space in our heart that can only be filled by him. So, no matter what you believe or what part of the world you live in there’s something about staring at the moon or witnessing something incredible that makes us feel “empty”. Kind of like feeling you don’t belong anywhere… have you ever felt that way Kat? Every one of us is missing something that we try each day to fill with merchandise, food, drugs, sex, relationships, people, etc. And do you notice that it’s never enough? Must be a pretty big empty space if we can’t buy enough things to fill it. Truth is that empty space can’t be filled with anything on this earth… it can only be filled by God.
I respect every one’s beliefs and I only challenge you to think about this…If the bible is a lie and Jesus never actually existed… when I die I will lose nothing and my life spent worshipping a God that doesn’t exist won’t matter. If you die, and everything written in the bible was true then what do you have to lose?
Thank you so much again for your post and I have truly enjoyed sharing with you!
I want to commend you for doing what a lot of Christians don’t do, mostly because they are guilted or pressured not to, for listening to this girl’s opinion. However, there were two points from your rebuttal that I should address because they are built on fallacies. One, “Most atheists deconvert from Christianity because of a bad experience.” This is simply not true. Yes, of course, there are examples where people leave a religion for that reason, but MOST? Not true. We leave because we realized that what we believed wasn’t true. I want to believe as many things that are true as possible. Second, “If I am wrong I lose nothing, but if you are wrong then what?” That can be said about any other religion. What if Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zoro Astor, or Islam is true? You don’t believe either of those. What if you are wrong? As someone who used to be fundamental Baptist, I know the bible does not say that believing in god because you are hedging your bets (which is what your statement means) is an acceptable reason to believe. The bible says that you are to “study to show thy self approved”. You have to have a valid reason for why you believe god is real.
Bryan Mulloy thank you for reading my article! Usually when someone isn’t interested in something they don’t read it down to the last punctuation… they just move on… but it sounds like you really gave it a shot 🙂 So since I have your attention, I will take this opportunity to tell you just how much God loves you and that he does care about all the things you do.. even what you wear.
In one sense you are right that God does not care about what we wear but this is only true unless it causes us to sin. If clothing is causing you to sin then God definitely has an opinion about it. You should do some research on the issue of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the only UNFORGIVABLE sin in the bible. That means that EVERY sin can be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ EXCEPT for blaspheme. It is imperative that we show the Holy Spirit respect in all ways. The bible also says we can grieve the Holy Spirit. I will stand by my article in that wearing an upside down cross, which is widely recognized as satanic, is disrespectful to Jesus Christ. Amen.
You sound like a self-righteous, overzealous bigot who looks down on anybody who doesn’t believe what you do. Christians are the ones who need their eyes opened, not the “unbelievers”!
All of your beliefs are wrong.
Thank God you’re not my judge. Thank you for reading.
The inverted cross or upside down cross is depicted on the throne of the pope in Rome.
That’s because Peter was crucified upside down. Read the article for the full details.
The cross is a pagan symbol.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Mathew 16:24
First, I personally don’t like this trend. It’s just not my style. However, I don’t think that wearing one of these pieces of clothing is anti Christian. Jesus never propagated the symbol of the cross nor spoke of its sanctity. This is a symbol adopted by man to signify Jesus’ gift to us all. These clothes could offend other people who find them unholy. That is definitely a possibility. God, if you have a good personal relationship with Him, knows your motivations for all you do. Letting the Church of Satan take the symbol of the cross, in any position, is unfortunate and exactly the reaction they want.
Humor me.. If you had a high school best friend, lets say her name is Amy, and you loved this friend with all your heart… But there was a group of kids at school that hate Amy and started wearing shirts with Amy’s name upside down to signify their hatred… how would Amy feel if you showed up wearing that shirt.. then called it innocent because Amy should know your intentions. Enough said.
It will show my best friend Amy that it’s just a shirt. Not all people who wears that shirt hates her. Like you said it’s all about intentions. I will show Amy that I can wear that shirt even if I love her. She can also wear that shirt if she wants. Only we know what the shirt means to the both of us. We share that kind of connection. Individual differences and all that. High school kids are dumb. Amy is a mature and wise girl. She will realize that those poor soul needs guidance because they have nothing to do but spread hate. Amy will be kind to them because she has a pure heart, and she understands. She won’t be angry at them. She’ll be sad for them. She’ll pray for them before she sleeps because Amy cares.
I am sorry but you are wrong! For one, an upside down cross was and never will be a sign of the Satanic religion and you are a fool to believe so, they created their own symbol entirely! As well as you being a fool for this, I knw the article you read on Black Veil Brides, and being a fan of them myself, I know that that article is entirely wrong! First off, it should not be trusted because it tells of Black Veil Brids while having a picture of the band Vampires Everywhere. I also know for a fact that Black Veil brides is not a satanic band at all, two of the members are Christian themselves and would probably leave the band if it was Satanic. The singer is athiest. You have all of your facts wrong and NOONE should take you seriously because you have no idea what you are talking about. You google search something and believe the first thing you see that is labeled and made by another Christian/fool.Thank you for your time you insolent swine and may Zeus show mercy when he wipes out your religion.
Lol
Fantastic words to explain to my young nieces who had adorable shirts on with several upright crosses but a few upside down crosses mixed in on their shirt fronts this weekend, such a sly way satan attacks the innocent.
Thank you, this was so helpful!
Thank you for reading Christy 🙂
I need insight on the meaning of 3 tattoo symbols. They’re located on the face, centered below the hairline.
A cross turned upside down, another cross right side up, and another cross turned upside down.
Worried.
Can someone help with this question?
The bible teaches that this is bad both ways this is it italizem . Crosses paintings carvings and soforth read your bible. Just like sunday is the first day of the week the romans woship the sun god on this day hints the name sunday the real saboth is saterday it is the seventh day of the week the real day of rest. Check it out for your self.
S.peter was put on a cross upside down by his choice he felt not worthy to hang the same as the savior.
How would you want to be remembered dead on cross or living risen from the dead by our father lord god .
Black Veil Brides are NOT Satanists. Their lyrics about glorifying demons is all a bunch of shock value crap. Same with the clothing they wear. I only went.on this site to see what the trend was about, as every trend has its roots. I don’t understand the medieval thought that just because your child chooses to wear an.inverted cross doesn’t make them a Satanist. In.fact the inverted cross has no connection with Satanism and is only associated with it.because the.majority of the public is naive to Satanism in.general, this article is proof of that.
It was actually Christian writers, that misunderstood and declared it as such and no one has corrected it since.
Thanks for your article on this important topic! Recently I have noticed a further disturbing trend, that of wearing the “sideways” cross. Since I forbade my daughter wearing an upside down one it seems like she is trying to sneak this “sideways” cross by me.
Here is the logic I have used with her: if the inverted cross is 100% wrong and the Godly cross is 100% right, a 90 degree sideways turned cross is 50% wrong 50% right. Therefore its ok for her to wear the sideways cross so long as it is turned no more than 89 degrees from dead center: that way at least she is mostly right!
Only thing is she keeps bumping it so it’s over 90 degrees 😦
She says it’s a mistake but it happens CONSTANTLY.
Do you agree? At what angle does the cross being turned become sacrilegious to the point of unacceptability?
God bless!
Christians need to follow the original beliefs – that it’s a mark of saint peter and no more. Calm the hell down.
Very telling that you chose to use the word “h*ll” in your snippy response. Some people just don’t get it.
It’s very interesting that you don’t look into religions it may see to affect you in yours. Judging by your posts, you’re very closed minded, to just accept wor of mouth and to not investigate for yourself. After all Jesus said “love thy neighbor” and what better what to love your neighbor than to understand them and their beliefs. I’m not saying go practising satanism. I’m saying Jesus would want you to open your heart and understand your brothers and sisters of different beliefs.
What does it matter what groups of other people think. A symbol only has meaning to the person wearing it. Interpations are individual. The church used both the upright and upside down cross. The bible is the most hypocritical book I ever read. Most people just follow and don’t even read the whole book. Who in there right mind would ever trust and listen to something that tells them to forget themselves and individual ideas and believe only what they tell you. If this man made God existed and created conscieness. Why is he telling you to forgot your own conscience and ideas. Do whatever u want for your own reasons. Fuck em
I am no longer Christian BUT I agree with St. Peter. We are not worthy of wearing the cross because we cannot do what we are supposed to. Jesus wanted us to believe in ourselves. He showed us what we can do and still we live like the PAGANS who crucified him. I would have died to stop his torment. MODERN CHRISTIANITY is a mockery. Stop pretending.
I always knew the cross was both used as a Satanic symbol and a Catholic symbol. Although I am in LOVE with this trend, I’m glad to finally have some insight as to whether or not I should be wearing this. For those of you still interested in the trend, many stores like Forever 21 and so on make the designs with the cross right side up so you can still follow the trend and not actually be offending anyone.
Hi I have question what if you see a upside cross in your mind what does that mean??
My dear sadly your wrong on the meaning of why people wear it now a days it represents what peters was trying to say he wasn’t fit to die like god, people wear it in the meaning that either their an out cast or just because they don’t see themselves worthy
Question there are these two guys on YouTube that are Christians and they had this bookcase where everything is upside down and it has the name of the two guys. One of them has two t’s in his name and the two t’s worried me because at first I thought it was a cross. Should I stop watching the two or am I being paranoid. Do you think it was an unintentional coincidence.
there are these two YouTube guys who have an upside down shelf where everything is upside down. Their names are on that shelf upside down as well. One of the names has two t’s in it and upside down it looks like the upside down cross. Should I stop watching their videos, or am I being paranoid. Was it an unintentional accident that they might have looked over?
God doesn’t care.
The satanic church doesn’t use the upside down cross symbol to mean anything other than what modern Christians decided it did. I looked up the history of the symbol and the upside down cross means the same thing to satanists (who understand symbolism) as it does to christians, and its a symbol of humility. read the definition of the symbol here http://symboldictionary.net/?p=1423
If you’re about religious respect and knowledge, please follow my link to learn the meaning of the reverse cross.
I am reading a book and it mentions that nuns say you shouldn’t even touch an upside down cross. Why?