Logos

Praying Skeleton logo

The praying skeleton logo is our own design, dating back to around 1977.

– Greg Lindstrom

The “praying skeleton” is one page of the book Osteographia – The anatomy of the bones by the author William Cheselden (19 Oct 1688 – 10 Apr 1752). This image is called plate 36 (XXXVI).

Eternal Flames: Who drew the praying skeletons?

They were something Greg came up with. We liked them and they stayed as our logo

– Robert Garven

Draft logo

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New logo I created. I spent hours trying to replicate the amazing etching detail of William Cheselden for the typeface and trying to replicate the contours of the bones! Let me know what you think!

I recently found a super high resolution version of the original skeleton and wanted to create an updated logo, not sure if anyone in the band or fans would accept it. I have to be honest his original etching had to do some skeletal gyrations to get them bones to match the same angle and pose of the one we adopted so many years ago. Thanks to modern technology this was possible although a modern Yogi would have been impressed. I am most proud of the work I did on the lettering with the texture, shaping, and spacing of each letter.
Of course this was just an exercise in creativity and I thought I would run it up the flagpole to see if anyone would salute it! I guess this is the ultimate tattoo challenge!

Many don’t know the true history of how our logo came about. Greg‘s family ran a print shop at one time and found the clip art of William Cheselden‘s famous praying skeleton, about the time the band was getting started. We liked the look, copied and flipped one around. I found a type face that I had been using called Stonehenge (at the time) to create our name, and our logo was born. The history of William Cheselden’s book was similar to our first album, when it first came out it wasn’t financially successful and much of his etchings became copyright free over the years. That is why you’ll see them in various locations, although our logo was one of the first to use some commercially. (Twitter, 13 Feb 2021)

This is the most common logo since 2003. It has been adapted by Falcon.

Dig the cool reverse “Cirith Falcon” logo!

Perry Grayson, 09 Nov 2003

See also Similar to Praying Skeleton.

Chaos Star, Chaos Symbol, Wheel of Fate, Symbol of Chaos

Next to the praying skeletons CU use the symbol of the chaos star. What’s behind that? Can you tell us anything about this symbol? Nowhere at all we found any information about the sign of the chaos star … (Other bands we found using the sign of the chaos stars on their LPs/logos etc. are Bolt Thrower and Sepultura…)

Eternal Flame

In the Moorcock books the CHAOS sign is described as a symbol with many arrows pointing in all directions symbolizing the many possibilities of CHAOS!  The symbol of LAW was one arrow pointing up.  We liked the idea of CHAOS and I designed the logo based on my readings of the book.

Robert Garven

We had a gigantic praying skeleton logo backdrop and sometimes the glowing Wheel of Fate logo off our album.

Robert Garven

Wheel of Fate logo and Chaos Star, is the same or different? Here is Symbol of Chaos.

“The origin of the Chaos Symbol was me doodling sitting at the kitchen table and wondering what to tell Jim Cawthorn the arms of Chaos looked like. I drew a straightforward geographical quadrant (which often has arrows, too!) N.S.E.W.and then added another four directions and that was that — eight arrows representing all possibilities, one arrow representing the single, certain road of Law. I have since been told to my face that it is an ‘ancient symbol of Chaos’ and if it is then it confirms a lot of theories about the race mind…As far as I know the symbol, drawn by Jim Cawthorn, first appeared on an Elric cover of Science Fantasy in 1962, then later appeared in his first comic version of Stormbringer done by Savoy.

– Michael Moorcock

Controversy: there is no mention at all of “Michael Moorcock” after the year 1986.

See also Similar to Chaos Star.

Cirith Ungol

They took their name from the place Cirith Ungol in J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The name Cirith Ungol is Elvish and means “Pass of the Spider”.

The “Cirith Ungol” is name of three alternatives:

1. Cirith Ungol, the Elvish and means “Pass of the Spider”.
2. Cirith Ungol, the Metal band.
3. Cirith Ungol, the Metal song.

See the further song with Cirith Ungol and J.R.R. Tolkien. 

Typeface (font)

NB! What is the original typeface (fonts) on some or all fonts? Font identifiers are likely similar fonts, and not the actual font. Also have confusion between typeface and font with various styles. Curious if CU have copyright free or commercially from many of the sources.

The early sans-serif font 1 (at least from Fri 23 Feb 1973 or earlier) or early serif font 2 (at least from Sat 22 May 1976 or earlier) was designed by Rob Garven, who was a graphic illustrator. The pictures are part of one of the posters and flyers that had the original Cirith Ungol logo.

It has been used on some of posters, flyers and possibly other merch from the beginning.

The original sans-serif font is unknown, possibly influenced by the font Herkules (2004).

It has been used on some of posters, flyers and possibly other merch (at least from Sat 21 Feb 1981 or earlier), One Foot In Hell (1986) and ads for “Three Metal Classics finally available again on vinyl …” (2005).

The serif typeface is unknown font, has been used on Elric on DAW Books. Influenced by Marshall by Solotype (2004), Brillant by RMU (2009/15) and DimancheNF byNick’s Fonts (2014).

The original serif font is Charleston (1967) from Ludwig & Mayer. Been used by DAW Books e.g. The Mind Net, but not Elric. Influenced by the font EFN Posters Jasny Regular (2000) and Radius FG (2022).

It has been used on Paradise Lost (1991) and possibly some of the posters, flyers and other merch.

The serif font is maybe Kingston Pro (1974), ITC Korinna Heavy or ITC Benguiat and influenced by the font Corrigan (2011).

It has been used on Frost and Fire (1981) and some of the posters, flyers and possibly other merch (at least from Sat 17 Apr 1982 or earlier).

The original serif font is unknown, possibly influenced by the font omnia (1990).

It has been used on the One Foot In Hell (1986) CD and possibly some of the posters, flyers and other merch.

The typeface used in the Cirith Ungol logo appears to be based on a bold serif style, closely resembling Stonehenge — a dry-transfer typeface created by Albie Fiore around 1974–1978 and published by Graphic Products Corporation. It was commonly used in fantasy and wargaming contexts, such as Citadel Miniatures (1979) and some TSR materials. Inspired to the books The Lord of the Rings.

Another possible influence is Quadrata II, designed by Paul Hayden Duensing in 1974, known for its classical serif structure. However, Stonehenge is a closer visual match in terms of proportion and flair.

The logo may have been hand-altered or custom-drawn, combining elements from these typefaces. This aesthetic later inspired fantasy fonts such as Satan’s Minions (Mickey Rossi, 2000) and Moria Citadel (2002), though those are not direct matches.

The style was used by Cirith Ungol from at least 1978, appearing on early flyers, The Orange Album, King of the Dead (1984), and later reintroduced during the 2015 reunion era, continuing in use on posters, flyers, and merchandise.

Pictogram

Or paintings, emotions, emoji, ideogram, Necronomicon, etc. What is the originally source? And who is the illustrator?

It has been used on some of posters, flyers and other merch and The Orange Album and One Foot in Hell.

Hook and Cross

Hook and Cross (character map)

See

Blue Öyster Cult

Pentagram

The inverted pentagram ⛧ is used on at least for poster on the gig:

Also see this:

The Heaviest Metal Known To Man @ Cirith Ungol

Pentagram

Anton Szandor LaVey

Tarot Card

Garven: Halvar [The Planet Of Doom], he’s the protagonist guy in the movie. He’s kind of like a viking biker guy that travels through time to go back to kill the guy that murdered his wife. I can’t pronounce the monster’s name or whatever but anyway his name was Halvar. That’s the guy. So in our part of the thing he gets to like a cave and he goes in there meeting a witch. She reads his tarot cards, and while reading the tarot…

Baker: All you need to do is read the lyrics to “Witch’s Game.”

Garven: But yeah, he goes inside… I’m just telling you, that he goes inside each tarot card and he fights the monster.

In the animated fantasy film The Planet of Doom, the main character, Halvar, receives a tarot card reading from a witch. This mystical scene inspired Cirith Ungol’s song “Witch’s Game”, which was written especially for the film.
As part of the Witch’s Game release (vinyl/single), a limited edition included a set of real tarot-style cards. These are based on the Rider-Waite deck but are autographed by the band members and themed with the Witch’s Game release.
From the image you shared, here are a few of the cards included:

• Card IV (Four of Swords) – with stained glass window and a knight lying in rest.
  • Image: A knight lying on a tomb with hands in prayer, three swords hanging above, one sword below.
  • Meaning: Rest, reflection, recovery.
  • Clearly visible and upright in your photo.
• Card II (High Priestess) – possibly the woman in blue with the star (or it may be the Two of Pentacles, depending on the actual symbol).
• Card with trumpet and gold coin – likely Page of Pentacles (this now) or Judgement.
  • Image: A young person holding a golden pentacle coin, standing on grassy field.
  • Meaning: Ambition, study, grounded new beginnings.
  • Visible third in the stack.
• Judgement
  • Image: An angel (Gabriel) blowing a trumpet, people rising from graves below.
  • Meaning: Awakening, reckoning, rebirth.
  • Visible just behind the Four of Swords.
• The Fool (partially visible)
  • Image: A young man standing at the edge of a cliff, holding a white rose and a bundle on a stick.
  • Meaning: New journey, innocence, risk.
  • Only part of the card is showing, but the signature style and coloring strongly suggest it.
• All cards are signed by Cirith Ungol members.

Summary

Pyramid, castle and mountain

See Pyramid, castle and mountain.

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