I had never actually looked up what the Ichthys meant before today. I have known about it, but hadn't had a clear understanding of exactly what it meant. When out on my spring photo shoot a few days ago, I saw it on our neighbor's vehicle. I quickly snapped this shot and continued on my way (I didn't want the neighbor to get suspicious. :)) Today I remembered the photo and decided to look it up and the idea for this design came to me.
Here's some information I found on Wikipedia,
"Ichthys can be read as an acrostic, a word formed from the first letters of several words. It compiles to "Jesus Christ God's son Savior" in ancient Greek "Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ", Iēsous Christos, Theou Huios, Sōtēr.
- Iota (i) is the first letter of Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς), Greek for "Jesus".
- Chi (ch) is the first letter of Christos (Χριστός), Greek for "anointed".
- Theta (th) is the first letter of Theou (Θεοῦ), Greek for "God's", the genitive case of Θεóς, Theos, Greek for "God".
- Upsilon (u) is the first letter of huios (Υἱός), Greek for "Son".
- Sigma (s) is the first letter of sōtēr (Σωτήρ), Greek for "Savior".
Historians say the 20th-century use of the ichthys motif is an adaptation based on an Early Christian symbol which included a small cross for the eye or the Greek letters "ΙΧΘΥΣ"."
