Cross of Saint Peter
Also called inverted cross, Petrine cross
An apocryphal upside-down crucifixion; a papal sign; a horror prop
Christian symbolsCross of Saint Peter meaning
An inverted cross is, in Christian tradition, the Cross of Saint Peter. The Acts of Peter, an apocryphal text, says Peter asked to be crucified head-down, not worthy to die as Jesus did. The pope still uses that cross. The idea that it “means Satan” is modern popular culture, not the old sign.
Peter’s cross, turned over. The devil’s version is a later story about that story.
Where it comes from
The New Testament does not describe Peter’s death. The Acts of Peter does, and the upside-down request is a humility story. The Petrine cross became a symbol of the papacy because Peter is the apostle Rome claims. Inverted crosses in horror films and in some anti-Christian graphics reverse the humility story into a boast. That reversal is culturally real now. It is not what the cross meant on a papal chair, and it is not a continuous medieval “satanic” emblem.
Christian
Unworthiness, told as a posture
Head-down is the point of the legend: not the same death, because not the same person. You can doubt the legend — it is not scripture — and still not replace it with a film prop. The Latin cross in this cabinet is the other way up, and it is the one the story is deferring to.
Modern
Horror got the last word, for some audiences
In a sleeve of black metal and cinema, the inversion reads as rejection. That reading has a public. It does not delete the papal one. As with the svastika, a later use can shout. The earlier use is still in the room if you know which room you are in.
Near this
Sources
- Acts of Peter, the upside-down crucifixion
- Petrine cross in papal insignia
Named when the entry depends on a text, a date, or a standard. Catalog numbers are not invented.
Your margin
Private. It stays in this browser and never joins the canon.
symbol.wiki, edited as Sigilla. Last reviewed 2 October 2026. A reading of public tradition, not a ruling.