Tool Symbols

54 symbols to explore

Meaning & historical context

Browse tool symbols

54 symbols.

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Level and Plumb preview
Masonic Tools£0.99

Level and Plumb

Two builders’ tools used in Masonic teaching: the level for equality and the plumb for upright conduct and integrity.

3 variants12 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialBalanceIdentityHistorically supported
Masonic Trowel preview
Masonic Tools£0.99

Masonic Trowel

An operative mason’s tool adapted in some Masonic traditions as an emblem of fellowship and the bonds uniting lodge members.

3 variants12 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialLoveIdentityHistorically supported
Concentric Circle-and-Dot Motif — Early Medieval Slavic Objects preview
Geometric Motifs£0.99

Concentric Circle-and-Dot Motif — Early Medieval Slavic Objects

A drilled ring-and-dot ornament widely used on early medieval bone and antler objects, including combs.

3 variants12 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialOriginal Meaning UnknownHistorically supported
Square and Compasses preview
Masonic Emblems£0.99

Square and Compasses

Freemasonry’s best-known combined emblem, pairing two builders’ tools used in lodge teaching as moral symbols.

3 variants12 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialIdentityBalanceHistorically supported
Engineer Castle Insignia — United States Army Corps of Engineers, c. 1840–1918 preview
Branch Device£0.99

Engineer Castle Insignia — United States Army Corps of Engineers, c. 1840–1918

The turreted castle represented United States Army engineers and fortification, appearing on Corps equipment from 1840 before formal adoption as branch insignia in 1902.

3 variants12 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialIdentityHistorically supported
Washer Crest (Kuginuki-mon / Square-Pierced-Round) — Documented Kamon Motif, Muromachi–Edo preview
Heraldry & EmblemsFree

Washer Crest (Kuginuki-mon / Square-Pierced-Round) — Documented Kamon Motif, Muromachi–Edo

A square plate pierced by a round hole (座金 / washer), not a pictorial carpenter’s bar.

3 variants12 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialIdentityFamilyHistorically supported
Clock Hand Crest preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Clock Hand Crest

Clock hands freeze a single point in a life that cannot be paused, making this crest a reminder that time is finite, its remaining measure unknown, and attention should not be endlessly deferred.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialDeathMemoryGuidanceHistorically supported
Anchor Dagger Crest preview
Flash Classics£0.99

Anchor Dagger Crest

The anchor holds while the dagger cuts forward. Both belong to the historic vocabulary of sailor and military tattooing, but their pairing here is modern: an emblem of steadiness under pressure, hope through danger and the determination to find a way back.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialHopeProtectionGuidanceHistorically supported
Knots Device preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Knots Device

Rope gains strength through the way it is joined, bent, and secured, giving this device a maritime language for connection, resilience, continuity, and bonds made to hold under strain.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialResilienceFamilyBalanceHistorically supported
Anchor Crest preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Anchor Crest

An anchor is designed to hold when everything around it moves, giving this crest an enduring maritime language of steadiness, hope, resilience, attachment, and safe return.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialHopeGuidanceResilienceHistorically supported
Pilgrim Bell preview
Heraldry & Emblems£0.99

Pilgrim Bell

Small bells survive among the material traces of medieval pilgrimage, including examples linked with Thomas Becket's shrine at Canterbury, where they served as portable reminders of a sacred journey and place.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialFaithIdentityMemoryHistorically supported
Rope Frame preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Rope Frame

Rope is useful because fibres and strands work together under load; wrapped into a frame, that practical maritime material becomes a fitting symbol of connection, continuity, resilience, and boundaries that hold.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialResilienceStrengthFamilyHistorically supported
Wheel Emblem preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Wheel Emblem

The ship's wheel is about what happens after a direction is chosen: holding course, correcting drift, and accepting responsibility for how a vessel responds to changing conditions.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceBalanceStrengthHistorically supported
Pilgrim Staff and Scrip preview
Heraldry & Emblems£0.99

Pilgrim Staff and Scrip

The staff and scrip were practical companions of the medieval pilgrim and became instantly recognisable attributes of pilgrimage, evoking the road, endurance, dependence, and devotional purpose.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialFaithResilienceGuidanceHistorically supported
Keys of Saint Peter preview
Heraldry & Emblems£0.99

Keys of Saint Peter

The keys given to Saint Peter became one of medieval Christianity's clearest images of apostolic authority, linking the Gospel promise of the 'keys of the kingdom' with Peter and the Church of Rome.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialFaithIdentityGuidanceHistorically supported
Athanor Crest preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Athanor Crest

A contemporary crest inspired by the athanor, the slow-burning furnace used to sustain long periods of heat in alchemical work and associated here with endurance, discipline and transformation.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialResilienceTransformationStrengthHistorically supported
Transmutation Key preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Transmutation Key

A contemporary key-shaped emblem inspired by the historical alchemical pursuit of transmutation, using the key as a modern metaphor for change, mastery, guidance and becoming.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialTransformationGuidanceWisdomHistorically supported
Was Sceptre Sign preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Was Sceptre Sign

A contemporary rendering of the ancient Egyptian was sceptre, a distinctive staff associated in surviving sign combinations and divine imagery with dominion, power and authority.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialStrengthIdentityProtectionHistorically supported
Mirror-and-comb Pair preview
Pictish Symbols£0.99

Mirror-and-comb Pair

A mirror and comb appear together among the carvings of Aberlemno I in Angus, forming one of the Pictish repertoire's most recognisable object pairings. The objects can be described visually, but why they were paired and what they signified remain unknown.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialIdentityWisdomBalanceHistorically supported
Crook and Flail Seal preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Crook and Flail Seal

A contemporary seal based on the Egyptian crook and flail, paired items of royal regalia also shown with Osiris and strongly associated with kingship and authority.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialStrengthProtectionIdentityHistorically supported
Isiac Sistrum preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Isiac Sistrum

A Roman bronze sistrum used in Isiac worship, whose jingling ritual sound was understood to ward off evil.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialProtectionFaithHistorically supported
Besom Gate Symbol preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Besom Gate Symbol

The broom became one of the most recognisable attributes of the European witch, although much of that image was shaped by hostile print and folklore. Recast as a gateway, crossed besoms become a modern emblem of clearing, departure and intentional boundaries.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialProtectionRenewalTransformationHistorically supported
Black Candle Crest preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Black Candle Crest

A black candle holds an immediate visual paradox: darkness surrounding a point of light. Rather than treating black as harmful, this modern crest uses the contrast to explore focus, protection, remembrance and the deliberate ending of one phase before another begins.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialProtectionTransformationMemoryHistorically supported
Coven Lantern Mark preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Coven Lantern Mark

A lantern does more than illuminate the person carrying it: its light can be seen and shared by others. Paired with the modern language of the coven, it becomes an emblem of community, welcome and finding direction together.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceFamilyHopeHistorically supported
Lunar Key Emblem preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Lunar Key Emblem

A key suggests access; a crescent reminds us that timing and conditions change. Combined without claiming a historic witch sign, they form a modern emblem for discovering the right opening, recognising when to act and accepting that not every door is meant to open at once.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceProtectionTransformationHistorically supported
Mirror Veil Sigil preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Mirror Veil Sigil

A mirror promises an image, while a veil interrupts certainty about what can be seen. Combined in this original sigil, reflection becomes less about prediction than about self-knowledge, uncertainty and the courage to examine what remains partly hidden.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialProtectionWisdomIdentityHistorically supported
Threshold Key Mark preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Threshold Key Mark

A threshold separates one space from another; a key decides whether passage is possible. This original mark combines them as an emblem of access, permission and the responsibility that comes with choosing what may enter, leave or remain protected.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceProtectionTransformationHistorically supported
Witchfire Lantern preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Witchfire Lantern

A lantern carries light into places where daylight cannot follow. Give that flame the imagined quality of witchfire and the result is deliberately modern: an emblem of unusual guidance, persistent hope and keeping watch when the way ahead is difficult to read.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceHopeTransformationHistorically supported
Lantern Grave Mark preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Lantern Grave Mark

A lantern beside the grave changes darkness from emptiness into vigil, making this mark an image of remembrance, watchfulness, comfort, and keeping a light for someone absent.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceMemoryFaithHistorically supported
Broken Clock Mark preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Broken Clock Mark

A damaged clock turns the steady measurement of time into interruption, making the mark especially resonant with endings that arrive before plans, relationships, or ambitions feel complete.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialDeathMemoryHumilityHistorically supported
Coffin Key Device preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Coffin Key Device

Coffin and key meet as a deliberately impossible mechanism: death is presented as a locked threshold, while the key evokes the human desire to understand, accept, or somehow open what remains unknowable.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialDeathGuidanceWisdomHistorically supported
Veil Candle Crest preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Veil Candle Crest

A veiled light makes grief visible without extinguishing hope: mourning surrounds the flame, but the flame remains, creating an image of remembrance held through darkness rather than defeated by it.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialMemoryFaithDeathHistorically supported
Funeral Bell Sign preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Funeral Bell Sign

The bell gives death a public voice: its imagined sound marks a farewell beyond the private circle of grief, turning remembrance into something heard, shared, and acknowledged by a community.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialDeathMemoryFaithHistorically supported
Last Flame Seal preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Last Flame Seal

A final flame holds at the edge of darkness, capturing the fragile interval before extinction while leaving open another reading: that even a small surviving light can become memory, vigil, faith, or hope.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialDeathMemoryHopeHistorically supported
Sixfold Compass Device preview
Sacred Geometry£0.99

Sixfold Compass Device

Six equal directions radiate from one centre, turning compass construction into a contemporary image of orientation, balance, guidance, and the moment when many possible paths must be measured against a chosen centre.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialBalanceGuidanceWisdomHistorically supported
Beacon Seal preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Beacon Seal

A beacon exists to be noticed. Whether marking danger or helping establish position, its value lies in visibility across distance, making this seal about warning, vigilance, hope, communication, and being seen when it matters.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceHopeProtectionHistorically supported
Bell Mark preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Bell Mark

At sea, a bell could mark the watch, sound an alarm, signal through fog, or accompany ceremony. This mark turns that practical voice of the ship into a symbol of attention, timing, vigilance, warning, and readiness to respond.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceProtectionResilienceHistorically supported
Compass Crest preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Compass Crest

A compass does not choose the destination; it gives the traveller a reliable sense of direction. This crest turns that practical idea into a symbol of guidance, purpose, orientation, and finding a course through uncertainty.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceWisdomHopeHistorically supported
Lantern Frame preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Lantern Frame

A lantern carries a small circle of visibility into darkness. Framed as an emblem, it becomes less about distant navigation than the immediate act of keeping watch, finding the next step, and protecting a light through the night.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceHopeProtectionHistorically supported
Lighthouse Seal preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Lighthouse Seal

A lighthouse does not remove the hazard; it makes the hazard visible and gives the mariner a reference point, turning this seal into an emblem of guidance, vigilance, hope, and return.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceHopeProtectionHistorically supported
Lock Motifs Emblem preview
Nautical & Maritime£0.99

Lock Motifs Emblem

A lock does more than keep something out: it defines what is valued enough to secure, making this emblem about protection, privacy, trust, attachment, and controlled access.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialProtectionIdentityLoveHistorically supported
Moth and Flame Sign preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Moth and Flame Sign

A moth moving toward flame holds transformation and danger in the same image, capturing the pull of change, the cost of desire, and the fragility of a life drawn toward intensity.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialDeathTransformationRenewalHistorically supported
Candle Skull Seal preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Candle Skull Seal

Bone and flame make the message immediate: the skull names mortality, while the candle turns a human lifespan into light that burns brightly, diminishes, and eventually goes out.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialDeathMemoryFaithHistorically supported
Chain-Wrapped Blade preview
Flash Classics£0.99

Chain-Wrapped Blade

A blade is made to move; a chain exists to hold. Wrapping one around the other creates deliberate tension, turning this modern flash composition into an image of restraint, endurance and strength that remains present even when freedom of movement is limited.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialResilienceStrengthProtectionHistorically supported
Bell and Thorn Mark preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Bell and Thorn Mark

A bell announces that something has changed; a thorn makes careless crossing difficult. This original mark combines sound and boundary into a modern emblem of warning, watchfulness and the confidence to make a limit known before it is tested.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialProtectionGuidanceResilienceHistorically supported
Alembic Mark preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Alembic Mark

A contemporary mark inspired by the alembic, the distillation head used to guide vapour into a receiver and a fitting symbol for refinement, knowledge and transformation.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialTransformationWisdomRenewalHistorically supported
Portolan Wind Rose preview
Heraldry & Emblems£0.99

Portolan Wind Rose

Portolan charts transformed medieval seafaring knowledge into dense networks of coasts and directional lines; the later wind rose distils that navigational tradition into an emblem of orientation and guidance.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialGuidanceResilienceProtectionHistorically supported
Mexica Tecpatl Flint Year Sign preview
Ancient Americas£0.99

Mexica Tecpatl Flint Year Sign

Tecpatl, “Flint”, is one of the four repeating year signs of the Nahua 52-year cycle, where the blade image functions primarily as calendrical notation.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialTransformationBalanceIdentityHistorically supported
Hourglass Rose Mark preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Hourglass Rose Mark

An hourglass beside a rose sets measured time against living beauty, creating a reminder that what is cherished is made more precious by its impermanence.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialDeathMemoryLoveHistorically supported
Inca Quipu Knot Group preview
Ancient Americas£0.99

Inca Quipu Knot Group

Quipus used cords, colours, attachments and knots to organise recorded information in the Inca world; this simplified group represents the system without inventing a message.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialMemoryWisdomIdentityHistorically supported
Sican Tumi Ceremonial Knife preview
Ancient Americas£0.99

Sican Tumi Ceremonial Knife

Elaborate Lambayeque-Sican tumis were crescent-bladed ceremonial knives associated with ritual display, elite status, power and funerary deposition.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialIdentityStrengthFaithHistorically supported
Poppy Time Seal preview
Gothic & Memento Mori£0.99

Poppy Time Seal

A remembrance poppy set against a measure of time links individual loss with the years that follow, asking how memory is carried after those who witnessed an event are gone.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialDeathMemoryRenewalHistorically supported
Pelican Vessel Crest preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Pelican Vessel Crest

A contemporary crest inspired by the historical pelican vessel, whose recirculating arms returned condensate to the body and suggest renewal, continuity and transformation.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNGSVG
CommercialRenewalTransformationWisdomHistorically supported
Retort Diagram preview
Occult & Esoteric£0.99

Retort Diagram

A modern diagram inspired by the retort, a bent-neck vessel used historically for heating and distillation, here interpreted as a symbol of study, refinement and controlled transformation.

3 variants9 filesPDFPNG
CommercialTransformationWisdomRenewalHistorically supported

About tool symbols

Tool symbols and their researched historical, cultural, and practical relationships.

Sanctum Hex Journal

Read beyond the catalogue.

Editorial research connected to tool and its historical settings.

Curated sets

Collections with related symbols.

Collection overlap is shown against the symbols on this meaning page.

11 matching symbols

Memento Mori Mortality Symbols Collection

Memento Mori Mortality Symbols gathers 25 symbols shaped around hourglasses, candles, skull-adjacent marks, decay and renewal motifs, time symbols, and mortality emblems, with each mark chosen for clarity, historical resonance, and a strong editorial silhouette.

10 matching symbols

Nautical & Maritime Symbols Collection

Nautical & Maritime Symbols gathers 25 symbols shaped around ropework, anchors, beacons, ships, swallows, hearts, stars, and the symbolic shorthand of maritime life, with each mark chosen for clarity, historical resonance, and a strong editorial silhouette.

8 matching symbols

Witchcraft Collection

Witchcraft gathers 25 symbols shaped around folk magic, lunar ritual, protective signwork, and the symbolic language of domestic and ceremonial witchcraft, with each mark chosen for clarity, historical resonance, and a strong editorial silhouette.

5 matching symbols

Alchemical Symbols Collection

Alchemical Symbols gathers 25 symbols shaped around alchemy, transmutation, planetary correspondences, and the symbolic language of matter, with each mark chosen for clarity, historical resonance, and a strong editorial silhouette.

4 matching symbols

Medieval Pilgrim Protective Symbols (1100-1600) Collection

Medieval Pilgrim Protective Symbols (1100-1600) gathers 25 symbols shaped around pilgrim badges, journey signs, devotional monograms, protective emblems, shrine souvenirs, manuscript motifs, and symbols of faith, endurance, healing, identity, and safe return, with each mark chosen for clarity, historical resonance, and a strong editorial silhouette.

3 matching symbols

Ancient Americas Documented Signs Motifs Collection

Ancient Americas Documented Signs Motifs gathers 25 symbols shaped around documented glyphs, calendrical signs, manuscript motifs, archaeological reliefs, textiles, metalwork, and ceremonial objects from named ancient American cultures, with each mark chosen for clarity, historical resonance, and a strong editorial silhouette.

3 matching symbols

Emblems and Symbols of Secret Societies and Initiatory Orders

A diverse selection of historically documented emblems and insignia used by secret societies, initiatory orders, and fraternal organisations worldwide.

2 matching symbols

Egyptian Symbols Collection

Egyptian Symbols gathers 25 symbols shaped around temple relief, royal regalia, Nile symbolism, and the measured sacred language of Egyptian signwork, with each mark chosen for clarity, historical resonance, and a strong editorial silhouette.

2 matching symbols

Traditional Nautical Tattoo Collection

Traditional Nautical Tattoo gathers 25 symbols shaped around traditional flash language, protection motifs, bold line symbolism, and heirloom Americana composition, with each mark chosen for clarity, historical resonance, and a strong editorial silhouette.