I've got a very old Judas Priest hat from the early 80s. The cross just looks like a cross with bent tips. Pretty cool, could be a vendor knock off, because I got it at the Worcester Centrum in the "way back machine". It's in box someplace in the attic.
The funny thing is that a lot of people think that us metalheads are mean and evil but in reality metalheads are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.
This symbol to me it depicts the crucifix with a mask on it like the salvation of a dreamer, deceiver in our history. When i was a young man i wanted a large cross around my neck like K K Downing. I found someone on eBay who made a cross just like the one Tony Iommi wears, and just like that a dream came true for me came true for me..
I have never really given the Judas Priest cross much of a thought beyond how bad ass it is. But then again everything about Judas Priest is bad ass. They were and still are an awesome band.
Is everyone stupid, the cross is a symbol of a satanic Church,,,there is a b film, horror from 1971 called ' werewolves on wheels, and as campy and poorly the movie is,,, there is more than one scene where the biker gang goes into a a Church where these satanic monks are holding the leader of the gang's girlfriend captive, , they bust in to go save her, but not before being drugged by the satanic monks by wine and bread,,,, anyway, there is one of these crosses outside the entrance of the church and the camera even focuses on it and you can see the cross many times,, so I love Judas Priest, I've been a fan for decades, but Halford and the rest of the band will never confirm or deny that this is an ancient satanic symbol, the band are a bunch of Demon Dogs,,, always have been, always will be, that's one of the reasons why I love them, the adapted the symbol for the band and will continue to use it,,,,I'm just surprised nobody has noticed it and brought this up a long time ago,,,and if you have any doubt about what I'm saying about the symbol,,,,do a little research on it, it's in many text ( that means books ) about the black arts, and NO, I don't mean black people who take art classes,,,if you dare, do some homework, so you will know that. jUDAS PRIEST that is the BEAST do mean business....thank you all you unknowledgeable fools. P. J.. Z.
@@MetalPilgrim It's just a hard pill to swallow. You forget that these guys are real people, too. In the back of your mind you know it could happen, but you just kind of take it for granted that they will always be back live next summer for a live show.. I grew up listening to Priest. I love it... All of it. I even appreciated the "Ripper" years, although, I honestly don't consider it Priest. When Halford went out on his own and formed the band "Fight", I was into that for a while, too. The truth is, I'm 50 years old, and Rob Halford had already lit up the Rock and Roll/ Metal scene before I was old enough to get to a show. I can't imagine him no longer being around..... Especially when a guy like Ozzy has been kicking the ever living shit out of himself for as long and is still kicking. It will be a very sad day for me when Rob Halford leaves this world. NOT FUCKING YET THOUGH!!
Amen to that man! Ozzy (Which we share the same birthday December 3rd) and Halford have huge places in the world of Metal! You have Ozzy the Godfather of Metal. And Halford the Metal God! God Bless them! And I will be sad when they finally leave this world.
I understand the sentiment there, but for real a cross is a symbol of death, like a gallows, a guillotine, or an electric chair. In 73BC, Gannicus was crucified, along with several thousand other rebels, all along the Appian Way, from Capua to Rome. I agree that Halford needs a blessing from the Deity, but not help from an ancient instrument of capital punishment by torture and death. \m/
@@CrazyBear65 Well I cherish the cross as Jesus Christ my Savior died on it for our sins. But the Judas Priest cross is just one of their recognizable symbols to me.
I’ve been a priest fan for over 40 years now I remember the defenders albul and have always thought it represented defending the faith of rock and roll 🎸
I never thought about the logo other than it being a stylized cross. Maybe it's meant to be a trident. Maybe it's not. But like some have said, it's an icon that immediately make you think of the band. Like the Metallica M logo
It is a trident but I wouldn’t say they Priest themselves would believe in it you know. Remember Rob at Lemmys funeral? Rob was wearing a Crucifixi✝️, so I would simply say it’s a logo but yes it’s a trident and could be bended cross , both things on it as that’s what would exactly represent the name of the band Judas Priest as we know who Judas was, the other Judas Tadeous didn’t betray but the other did so yeah, they went for a logo and I feel like they did it well to grab attention but yes very controversial as what the results can be.
I think that every part of the Judas Priest cross is one of the letters of the band name Judas Priest. That's what I was always thinking since the first time I saw Judas Priest's cross. Keep rocking! 🤘🏻
I do not like the cross replacing the "t" in the logo. Actually my favorite logo is the one in the Stained Class front cover without any 3D or any other variant. The cross, by itself, is great.
As many people have said on here. I never gave that cross much attention. To me is just symbolizes Judas Priest as a band. And as soon as I see it, I think Judas Priest!
I kinda remember my Mom who was an architect told me that it looked like a carpenter's tree. An old design to spread the columns further apart. And of course a carpenter's tree looks like a wicked cross.
@5:25 --- *With all due respect, saying the Judas Priest symbol had Egyptian origins & therefore not christian would not be entirely accurate since quite a bit of the original christian legend was plagiarized from Egyptian mythos. JC himself is a character based largely on the same basic storyline as the Egyptian gäd, Horus. (Both had virgin mothers, both born on Dec 25, & much more) Of course, not JUST Horus. Jesus's story was also taken from Zarathustra and others. Use of the Hero Legend story template was a common practice at the time.* (*Submitted with all due respect because accuracy and truth matter*) 😁 🤘🏼 PS: KK describes himself in his autobiography as "an ardent non-believer" [in religion]. 🤘🏼
The symbol itself is most similar to the symbol of Neptune. Like many symbols, there are variations to it. But, it was the only symbol that came close to its appearance as used by JP. If you look over the years of RH’s autograph, you’ll see he’s used it, most easily found on his page of the Painkiller tour book.
Hey man your channel is one of the bests when it comes to Metal, I'm not a native English speaker and you talk fast, can't catch all what you say. If you could and we'd appreciate it to make subtitles option. Keep up man 🤘🏼
It's really easy to figure out people. It's taken from a rune. Nothing to with Christianity or Nazis. occam's razor. Algiz (also Elhaz) is the name conventionally given to the "z-rune" ᛉ of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. Its transliteration is z, understood as a phoneme of the Proto-Germanic language, the terminal *z continuing Proto-Indo-European terminal *s. In Proto-Norse and Old Norse, the Germanic *z phoneme developed into an R sound, perhaps realized as a retroflex approximant [ɻ], which is usually transcribed as ʀ. This sound was written in the Younger Futhark using the Yr rune ᛦ, the Algiz rune turned upside down, from about the 7th century. This phoneme eventually became indistinguishable from the regular r sound in the later stages of Old Norse, at about the 11th or 12th century.
I've always referred to it as the "Defenders of the Faith Cross" since that's what priest does... Defend the faith that is Metal for us true believers. Where's my Kool-Aid?!!!!
My favorite is of course on the Sad Wings of Destiny album because that is one of my favorite albums by them. To me it symbolizes Judas Priest. I definitely think you should do a deep dive into their various logos. As a graphic designer myself, I find these conversations useful and informative. Plus, as JP is my favorite heavy metal band, I just want to know more. Rock on and keep the faith!
For me the cross does have significant meaning and I don't really like demeaning it. The band's name also implies some sort of mystery of what their intent is with it. I love their music, probably top 3 for me. As these guys are starting to get health issues maybe realizing the true meaning of the cross could give them some peace.
"some sort of mystery"...The band took its name from from the Bob Dylan song "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest"..which appeared on "John Wesly Hardin" 1967.
I just saw Judas priest on their 2024 invincible shield tour. In the center of the stage a huge 10' Judas priest cross is lowered in front of the whole stage. I'm going to have to say it's the most epic and my favorite version of the symbol!
Interesting that this video refers near the end to Iron Maiden album cover art - as most Iron Maiden fans are aware, there's a similar recurring symbol on all of Iron Maiden's iconic album cover art since their first album, which is, of course, simply the initials of the artist who painted those album covers - Derek Riggs - assembled into a cryptic-looking symbol. Bisect the Judas Priest cross in half from top to bottom, and you've got the initials "JP", with the J on top and on its side. Maybe a coincidence, but to me, it's the band's initials assembled together into a cryptic-looking symbol, which makes sense in context, and it wouldn't be the only such example of this sort of thing from heavy metal art from the era.
Surely, aren't there any Emeritus Professors who've got an opinion on this? Maybe ask that Yorkshire lass who did the Egyptian documentary series for The Beeb not too long ago. Likely it's one third and 2/3 something else. Or maybe just a pure piece of lines, circles and proportions.
This was interesting I respect priest but am into heavier stuff. The thing is people read into things way too much. It was proven in court their isn't any subliminal message in their music. Even when I was a kid I knew their isn't anything evil about this band except the awesome music can sound that way. I can think of a bunch of true satanic metal that dosen't try to hide the fact in any way. Good video, good band!
The theory at 3:54 is growing on me, but you could take it one step farther. You could say that it stands for: The singer in the middle, guitarists on either side and then the two smaller prongs below represent the rhythm section, Ian and the drummer. Mind Blown!!!
firstly all our love to rob halford !we love you metal king! for me i always seen jp ,back to front ,upside down! jp ,and id like to shout out to patrick woodroffe who painted sad wings!if anyone who loves the art but never seen his art,try and find his books,mythopykien (my spelling is a bit wrong)techniques of fantasy art,he is one of the greatest british painters from the last century !his faery art is up there with brian froud,enjoy !
i have always thought it was just a logo or, at least the "horns" symbol made with the hand (similar to Ronnie James Dio always did) but with the thumb added.
I never really paid it any attention… didn’t even really notice it until YEARS after I’d listened/purchased my first JP album. To me it’s nothing other than a supplementary piece of the JP brand.
Looking at it in a larger scale, the designs that make up the figurative stones the original is supposedly hewn from is not without significance. Put it all together and you might just have a different answer than what you originally might have opted for. Just a thought.
I think Halford knew what the symbol & asked the guy to draw it. If HE didn't, then the guy that drew it certainly knew. Whether he got it out of a book randomly or not, the symbol IS what it IS. We can't just change meanings of symbols to suit ourselves. A symbol was created to stand for something & it stays that way. WE can't change what gets drawn to that symbol. It IS what it IS & it always will stand for what it was originally intended to represent. So when you figure out which Egyptian demon it represents, then you'll know what direction your band is coming from. Regardless of what they say ~
To me it looks like an altered menorah. 🕎 So it sort of looks like a Christian cross, but the branches are curved upward for lamps or candle holders. The smaller one would be on top and the larger below, then another larger branch of two lamps below that.
I wouldn't say it's a cross more like a trident. But I live through the satanic panic of the 80s. And I believe in the concept of everything is not what you think.. An art can be interpreted in many different ways. And art is in the mind of beholder.
I don't really have any opinion about the symbol. Symbols have been hijacked across time changing the meaning of it for that moment. The nazi cooked cross was used by early Christians. The crucifix was a symbol of Roman execution. How one relates to a symbol and its use gives it meaning.
Perhaps Derek Riggs was giving a nod to Judas Priest by including their signature cross in the Powerslave artwork since both bands were the two biggest metal bands at the time and Iron Maiden were sort of considered to be Judas Priest, Jr up until that point.
@@dowens3781 Not the whole video. It's not that interesting. Nonetheless, there is no JP sign on the Maiden cover. I was just reacting to your comment as you assume their is one.
@@herbertwest9626 He points out that there is indeed a similar symbol in the hieroglyphics on the pyramid - there's all kinds of hidden symbols on that album cover. I'll assume you didn't watch the episode where he talked about that either.
