Apple’s command key: where does ⌘ come from?

It’s the weekend so naturally it’s “stuff to read” time. All apple users know the command key on their keyboards; but where does the symbol come from?

I found a great article over at medium.com explaining the origins of the symbol, and it’s a pretty good read. Here’s a small part to get you started:

Known sometimes as the St John’s Arms, it’s a knot-like heraldic symbol dating back in Scandinavia at least 1,500 years, where it was used to ward off evil spirits and bad luck. A picture stone discovered in a burial site in Havor, Gotland, prominently features the emblem and dates from 400-600 AD. It has also been found carved on everything from houses and cutlery to a pair of 1,000-year-old Finnish skis, promising protection and safe travel.

It’s still found today on maps and signs in northern and eastern Europe, representing places of historical interest. More famously, though, it lurks on the keyboard of almost every Apple computer ever made—and in Unicode slot 2318 for everyone else, under the designation “place of interest sign.”

So how did ⌘ make the leap from mystical inscription to a key of its own?

Read the rest of the article here.