Routed or Voided Cross

Voided Cross

The Gamma Cross is often confused with the Voided Cross


© Logo of the Seventh Day Adventists

For Christians, the Voided Cross reminds them that Christ rose from death on the cross to proclaim His victory over sin, death, and the Devil. So there is nothing 'void' about a Christian cross.

'Voided Cross' (French: Croix Vidée) is simply a heraldic term for when only the edge of the cross is traced. For example, a cross shape could be incised or carved in a rock or lump of wood. The background colour or the material around the incision shows the shape of the cross, as seen in the logo of the Seventh Day Adventists.

A Voided Cross can be any shape or form of cross. The cross is charged with a smaller cross of the same design, but having the same colour as the background. Only the border of the larger cross is visible. (On this page, the cross shown top-left is a solid black cross overlaid with a slimmer white cross.)

Voided Cross on a
Communion wafer


Voided Cross on a gravestone

A Voided Cross is often marked on the Holy Communion wafer. Voided crosses also decorate the front panel of church pulpits and at the ends of church pews, giving rise to the terms Pulpit Cross and Pew Cross.

Other terms include Rebated Cross, Recessed Cross, Sunken Cross, Fimbriated Cross (fringed), Bordered Cross, Clechée Cross and Pierced Cross. (See also the Empty Cross.)

Protruding Cross
on a gravestone


A St. Andrew's Cross and a Celtic Cross baked on some Marks & Spencer Scottish shortbread biscuits. (There were a few more but ... Yummy!)

Voided Crosses are commonly seen on gravestones. It's much easier to carve a cross into a gravestone rather than carve the surrounding stone to create a Protruding Cross.

Coticed Cross

In heraldry, when the voided part of a cross is just a border within the cross, it is called a Coticed Cross (French: Coticée). Like most heraldic markings, the border has no particular Christian significance.