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To record, preserve, maintain, and protect the historic cemeteries of Jacksonville, as well as increase public appreciation and awareness of the historical and cultural value cemeteries provide communities.

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Funerary Symbols

Below is a list of some common images found on headstones.

  • Anchor - hope, sailor.

  • Cross and Anchor - another early Christian symbol referring to Christ as "hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sincere and steadfast" (Hebrews 6:19).

  • Angel - these "messengers of god" are very popular funerary imagery, often depicted escorting the deceased to heaven or mourning untimely death.

  • Anvil - martyrdom.

  • Arch - triumph, victory over death.

  • Armor - protection from evil.

  • Banner - victory, triumph.

  • Bells - call to worship.

  • Bible - resurrection through scripture, the clergy.

  • Books - knowledge, the Bible, or how ones life is recognized. An open book can be compared to a person with an open heart and that their thoughts and feelings were open to the world and God. A closed book can signify that ones life is completed and that the story has been told.

  • Broken flower - a life terminated.

  • Calla lily - marriage and fidelity.

  • Candle flame - life.

  • Celtic Cross - the circle symbolizes eternity.

  • Circle - eternity.

  • Clock - mortality, if hands are at 11:00 then represents the Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks.

  • Clouds - the divine abode, heaven.

  • Column - universally associated with commemoration. The column was used most often as a war memorial.

  • Column broken - life cut short.

  • Column door - heavenly entrance.

  • Crescent moon - virgin.

  • Cross - faith, resurrection, and salvation.

  • Cross with sun rays - glory.

  • Cross with winding sheet - descent from the cross.

  • Crown - reward of the faithful, victory, glory.

  • Cup - Eucharist.

  • Daisy - innocence.

  • Dove - peace and purity. The dove can also be seen diving from the heavens with an olive branch or a cross in its beak which symbolizes the Holy Ghost.

  • Drapery - sorrow, mourning.

  • Easter Lily - innocence, purity, loss of an early life.

  • Fern - humility, solitude, and sincerity.

  • Flame - eternity.

  • Fleur-de-lis - virgin, eternity.

  • Flowers in a bouquet or vase - frailty of life and beauty.

  • God/Eye of God - symbolizes the omnipresence of God. The eye of God enclosed in a triangle represents the Trinity.

  • Hands - a hand with the index finger pointing upwards symbolizes the hope of heaven. Hands holding a chain with a broken link symbolizes the death of a family member. The hand of God plucking a link of the chain represents God bringing a soul unto himself. A hand holding a heart is a symbol of the Lodge of Oddfellows. Clasped hands symbolize unity and affection even after death. Hand with finger pointing down symbolizes calling the earth to witness or to ponder this persons life.

  • Heart - traditionally a symbol of love, courage, and intelligence, the flaming heart signifies extreme ardor. The heart encircled with thorns symbolizes the suffering of Christ. A heart pierced by a sword symbolizes the Virgin Mary, hearkening to Simeon's prophecy to Mary at the birth of Christ, "Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul."

  • Hourglass - passage of time, shortness of life.

  • Ivy - eternal attachment, affection, friendship, eternal life.

  • Lamb - innocence. The lamb has been used in Christian symbols for many years. It usually marks the graves of children.

  • Laurel Wreath - victory in death and remembrance.

  • Lily of the Valley - innocence, purity, and renewal.

  • Morning Glory - the Resurrection since the flower blooms in the morning and is closed by afternoon.

  • Moon - death and rebirth.

  • Mourning figure - typical early 20th century funerary image.

  • Oak - strength, endurance, honor, faith, and virtue.

  • Palm - triumphant entry and the resurrection.

  • Pansy - symbolizes remembrance and humility.

  • Passion flower - all the symbols of passion. The ovary is shaped like the hammer used to drive the nails. There are five stamens, symbolical of the five wounds. The rays within the flower form a nimbus, symbolical of the Lords divine glory. The leaf is shaped like a spear which pierced His heart. The ten petals represent the ten apostles. The flower blooms but three days, representing the time which Jesus lay in the tomb.

  • Poppy - sleep.

  • Rock - stability.

  • Rosary - devotion to Mary.

  • Rose - love, it does adorn many children’s graves as a rose bud that has not opened with a broken stem. The more full the bloom the longer one lived.

  • Scales - justice, weighing of souls.

  • Scroll - life and time. Both ends rolled up indicates a life that is unfolding like a scroll of uncertain length and the past and future hidden. Often held by a hand representing life being recorded by angels. Can also suggest honor and commemoration.

  • Scythe - divine harvest.

  • Shell - resurrection, reincarnation, the soul's safe passage through the watery underworld (Bakongo belief).

  • Scallop - pilgrimage, resurrection.

  • Ship - journey to the afterlife, sailor.

  • Skeleton - mortality, death.

  • Skull - death, sin. If winged then the flight of the soul from mortal man.

  • Torch - originally the torch was a Greek symbol of life and truth, but the inverted torch in funerary art symbolizes death.

  • Tulip - charity and declaration of love.

  • Urn - originating as a repository for the ashes of the dead in ancient times, the urn has evolved into a popular symbol of mourning.

  • Vessel with flame - represents the eternal flame or the eternal spirit of man.

  • Wheat - a long and fruitful life.

  • Weeping willow - a symbol of sorrow, mourning, and immortality. This was one of the most used symbols of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for cemetery symbolism.

  • Wreath - originating as an ancient symbol of victory, it was adopted into the Christian religion as a symbol of the victory of the redemption.