The Faravahar and the Winged Disk: The Symbol That Conquered the World

The Image You’ve Seen a Thousand Times

You’ve seen it on:

• Ancient Persian reliefs
• Egyptian temples
• Assyrian monuments
• Modern Iranian flags
• Jewelry and tattoos
• Corporate logos

The winged disk — a circle with extended wings, often with a human figure — is one of the most widespread symbols in human history.

But where did it originate? What does it mean? And how did a Zoroastrian religious symbol spread across the ancient world and into the modern?

The Faravahar

The Zoroastrian Symbol

The Faravahar (also spelled Farohar, Fravahar) is the most recognizable symbol of Zoroastrianism:

Elements:

• A winged disk (the central circle with extended wings)
• A human figure emerging from the disk
• The figure holds a ring (covenant, loyalty)
• Wings have three layers of feathers
• A tail with three layers extends below
• Two streamers curl from the sides

The Fravashi Connection

The symbol is connected to the Fravashi (or Fravahar) concept:

• The guardian spirit or divine essence of each person
• The part of the soul that existed before birth and continues after death
• The spiritual prototype in heaven
• The divine spark within

The Faravahar reminds Zoroastrians of their higher nature — the divine self they should aspire to embody.

The Three-Layer Symbolism

The three layers (feathers, tail) represent Humata, Hukhta, Hvarshta:

• Good Thoughts (Humata)
• Good Words (Hukhta)
• Good Deeds (Hvarshta)

The threefold Zoroastrian ethical path is encoded in the image.

The Ring

The ring held by the figure represents:

• Covenant with Ahura Mazda
• Loyalty to truth (Asha)
• The cycle of life and eternal nature

The Human Choice

The human figure faces forward, one hand reaching upward (toward the divine), suggesting:

• Free will — humans choose their path
• Aspiration — reaching toward Asha
• Responsibility — each person must act

Persian Imperial Usage

Achaemenid Monuments

The winged disk appears throughout Achaemenid Persia:

Persepolis: Carved above doorways, on tombs, in processional reliefs Behistun: Above Darius I’s victory inscription Naqsh-e Rostam: On royal tombs Pasargadae: On Cyrus’s monuments

What Did It Mean to the Persians?

Scholars debate whether the Achaemenid winged disk represents:

• Ahura Mazda himself
• The Fravashi (guardian spirit)
• Khvarenah (divine glory)
• Royal authority blessed by divinity

Likely all of these — the symbol encoded multiple meanings simultaneously.

The Royal Association

Persian kings used the winged disk to claim divine sanction:

• The symbol appears above kings in reliefs
• It blesses royal inscriptions
• It sanctifies military victories
• It legitimizes the throne

Whoever had the winged disk’s blessing ruled by Asha.

The Egyptian Connection

The Winged Sun Disk

Egypt developed the winged sun disk independently — or did it?

Egyptian version:

• Circle (sun) with extended wings
• Sometimes with uraei (cobras) on the sides
• Associated with Horus, Ra-Horakhty, Behedti
• Placed above temple doorways for protection

The Question of Origin

Which came first — Persian or Egyptian?

Egyptian claim: The winged disk appears in Egypt by the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BCE), well before Persian influence.

Zoroastrian claim: The concept may have traveled from earlier Indo-Iranian sources that also influenced Egypt.

The truth: Both civilizations developed winged disk symbolism, possibly from common ancient Near Eastern roots. But the Faravahar with human figure is distinctly Persian.

Cultural Exchange

When Persia conquered Egypt (525 BCE), the symbols merged:

• Persian rulers in Egypt used both traditions
• Artists synthesized the iconographies
• The winged disk became pan-imperial

Assyrian and Babylonian Parallels

Ashur

The Assyrian god Ashur was depicted as:

• A winged disk
• Sometimes with a human figure (archer)
• Hovering above kings in battle scenes
• Sanctioning military conquest

Shamash

The Babylonian sun god Shamash appeared with:

• Solar disk imagery
• Rays or wings extending
• Association with justice and truth

The Ancient Near Eastern Pattern

The winged disk was a shared symbol across the ancient Near East:

• Divine presence hovering above
• Solar/celestial associations
• Royal legitimacy through divine approval
• Protection of sacred spaces

Zoroastrianism didn’t invent the form — but it gave the symbol its most developed theological meaning.

The Spread of the Symbol

Hellenistic Period

After Alexander’s conquest, the winged disk spread:

• Greco-Persian synthesis in art
• The symbol traveled with Hellenistic rulers
• It appeared in coins, seals, monuments

Roman Period

Roman art absorbed Near Eastern motifs:

• Winged victory (Nike/Victoria) echoes the pattern
• Eagles with spread wings became imperial symbols
• Solar imagery (Sol Invictus) carried similar meaning

Christian Adaptation

Christianity absorbed the visual vocabulary:

• Angels with wings — divine messengers
• Halos — circles of light (Khvarenah)
• Doves — the Holy Spirit descending
• Spread-wing symbols — protection and divinity

The winged figure above altars in many churches echoes the Faravahar above Persian doorways.

Modern Usage

The Iranian Flag (1925-1979)

The Pahlavi dynasty placed the Faravahar on Iranian currency, emblems, and national symbols — connecting modern Iran to its pre-Islamic Persian heritage.

Zoroastrian Community

Today, the Faravahar is:

• The primary symbol of Zoroastrian identity
• Worn as jewelry
• Displayed in fire temples
• Used in community events
• A marker of Persian cultural pride

Popular Culture

The symbol appears in:

• Tattoos and body art
• Heavy metal and rock imagery
• Fantasy and gaming aesthetics
• New Age spirituality
• Middle Eastern cultural products

The Symbolic DNA

What the Faravahar Encodes

The symbol contains entire Zoroastrian theology:

One image contains: monotheism, ethical dualism, free will, covenant theology, and spiritual aspiration.

Why It Spread

The winged disk spread because it communicates:

• Divine presence (understood cross-culturally)
• Protection (universally desired)
• Authority (useful for rulers)
• Aspiration (human reaching toward divine)

These themes resonate across cultures. The symbol was adoptable precisely because its meaning translated.

The Christian Echo

Angels

Christian angels are depicted with:

• Wings
• Human forms
• Halos (circles of light)
• Hovering above
• Protective function

This is the Faravahar split into multiple beings:

• The winged disk became the wings and halo
• The human figure became the angel’s form
• The protective function remained

The Holy Spirit Dove

At Jesus’s baptism, the Spirit descends “like a dove” — a winged being from above, marking divine approval.

The pattern: winged divine presence descending to bless the chosen one.

Seraphim

Isaiah’s seraphim have six wings and hover above the throne of God. The image of winged divine beings around the supreme deity echoes Persian throne-room iconography.

What the Faravahar Proves

1. Symbols Travel with Concepts

The Faravahar didn’t spread because it was pretty. It spread because the Zoroastrian concepts it represented — divine presence, free will, ethical aspiration — were adopted by other cultures.

2. The Visual Vocabulary Is Persian

When we see wings, halos, and heavenly beings in religious art, we’re seeing a visual vocabulary that developed (in part) from Persian sources.

3. Christianity Absorbed the Imagery

Angels with wings and halos. The dove descending. Seraphim around the throne. The visual language of Christianity has Zoroastrian roots.

4. The Symbol Lives

Unlike many ancient symbols, the Faravahar is still actively used — by ~138,000 Zoroastrians and by millions who appreciate Persian cultural heritage.

Conclusion

The Faravahar is not just a Persian national symbol. It’s a theological encyclopedia in visual form:

• Ahura Mazda’s presence (the disk)
• The soul’s divine nature (the Fravashi)
• Ethical aspiration (the threefold path)
• Free will (the human figure)
• Divine covenant (the ring)
• The choice between good and evil (the streamers)

This symbol spread across the ancient world and influenced the visual vocabulary of religions that followed.

When you see angels with wings, halos of light, or divine beings hovering above, you’re seeing the Faravahar’s descendants.

The symbol that Darius carved at Persepolis now appears (in transformed versions) above Christian altars, in Islamic geometric patterns, and in modern popular culture.

The Faravahar flew from Persia and never landed. It’s still soaring.

Wings of Asha. The symbol remembers.

Sources

On the Faravahar

• Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Routledge, 1979
• Shahbazi, A. Shapur. “An Achaemenid Symbol.” Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran, 1974

On Persian Imperial Art

• Root, Margaret Cool. The King and Kingship in Achaemenid Art. Brill, 1979
• Curtis, John and Nigel Tallis (eds.). Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia. British Museum Press, 2005

On Winged Disk Symbolism

• Black, Jeremy and Anthony Green. Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. British Museum Press, 1992
• Lurker, Manfred. Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons. Routledge, 1987

On Fravashi

• Williams, Alan. “The Fravašis.” Encyclopedia Iranica, 2000

At eFireTemple, we read the symbols. The Faravahar speaks across millennia. Wings, disk, ring, and figure — Zoroastrian theology in image. The symbol flies still.