Why is the symbol for the Isle of Man three legs?
A frequently asked question concerns the origins of the Three Legs of Mann design and how it came to be adopted as the national symbol of the Isle of Man. The answer is that nobody really knows. The device has a long history stretching back into pagan times and represents the sun and its daily passage across the heavens. It was derived from a design which showed the spokes of a wheel and which, in turn, represented the rays of the sun. Because of this it has been described as a solar wheel and was a symbol of pagan sun worship. Related symbols are the cross and the fylfot, or four-legged swastika.
The National Symbol is the Three Legs of Man, first officially used in the early fourteenth century on the Manx Sword of State. The legs, clad in armour and bearing spurs, run in a clockwise direction and bear the Latin motto ‘Quocunque Jeceris Stabit’ or ‘Whichever way you throw it, it will stand’ – a testament to islanders’ independence and resilience. The Three Legs also appear on the Manx Coat of Arms, flanked by a Peregrine Falcon and a Raven. The source of the legs emblem is subject to many theories including the legend of the Island God Manannan, who is said to have set fire to the Legs in a fit of rage and hurled them down the hill in a burning wheel. The Legs are also related to Sicily’s emblem of three naked legs surrounding the head of Medusa, and the swastika, both of which can be traced back to pagan symbols representing the Sun.
