Good luck symbols from around the world - BBC Bitesize (2024)

There’s just a few minutes left on the clock.

Your team, against all odds, has a slender lead against formidable opposition. Every second that ticks by feels ten times as long. What can you possibly do, as an armchair viewer, to see your team safely past the final whistle?

Well, for a start, you could rub that lucky horseshoe you keep on your keyring. Or even check you’ve still got those carp scales from Christmas on you.

Lucky symbols and good luck charms are part of culture across the globe. Many are only popular in certain countries or regions, and often have interesting stories behind them. BBC Bitesize is lucky enough to get to share some of those stories with you - and whether it’s complete superstition, or there’s something in them that bestow good fortune - is all a matter of opinion.

Acorns in your pocket

They feature in the logo of the National Trust, giving an acorn symbolic status in UK life. They are also a sign of luck - not just in this country, but other parts of the world.

Acorns were often carried in people’s pockets to bring both health and good luck. One event in the late 19th Century led to acorns becoming a significant symbol in one English coastal town.

In December 1899, tragedy struck the lifeboat Aldeburgh - named after the town where it was stationed. The vessel capsized, then overturned, after being struck by large waves in severe winds. Tragically, seven of the crew never returned. It remains one of the worst disasters in the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)’s history.

The 11 survivors included crewmember Augustus Mann. He attributed his fortune that day to the three acorns he carried in his pocket to bring him luck. They became a symbol for the Aldeburgh crew and the same acorns, varnished to prevent them rotting away after more than a century, are carried aboard Aldeburgh’s lifeboat to this day. They are positioned in the wheelhouse of the current boat Freddie Cooper, in a box made from the oak timber of the town’s Tudor period . The names of the crewmembers who never came home are listed in a memorial tablet on the walls of the parish church, as well as a marble monument in the churchyard.

Carp scales in your wallet

In some European countries, such as Slovakia, Poland and Austria, a staple of the Christmas dinner table is a carp.

Unlike the turkey traditionally served in the UK, carp isn’t always bought from the supermarket ready for the oven. Often, it is kept live in the family bathtub for a few days beforehand.

Once the carp has been served and enjoyed, it’s a tradition to look for any scales that are left on the table. These are then kept safe in a purse or wallet until the next Christmas Eve, as they are seen as a symbol of luck for the next 12 months. We’d like to think they don’t smell all that bad after a while…

Scarab beetles as jewellery

Watching insects go about their daily business can be a fascinating distraction. In ancient Egypt, it was the beginning of one being seen as an idol.

Scarab beetles, also known as dung beetles, push balls of waste across the sand where they will eventually lay their eggs. This was seen by the Egyptians as symbolic of the Sun’s path across the sky, as well as a symbol of new life, with the tiny creatures seen as a representation of the Sun god Khepri walking the Earth.

Scarabs have long been worn as amulets in Egypt. Clay representations of them were used as seals on tombs. The latter type would include inscriptions, often phrases of good luck or wishes and any unearthed today with connections to the pharoahs are seen as valuable.

Dala horse on your mantlepiece

If you’ve ever been in a Swedish airport, or had relatives bring you a traditional gift from the country, there’s a very good chance you will recognise a Dala horse.

Crafted from wood and usually painted in a vivid shade of red, the history of the Dala horse goes back to the 17th Century. Small wooden horses were sold at markets in Dalarna, in the centre of the country. Around a century later, wooden horses were also carved by men working in the forest who brought them back to their villages for children to play with.

They were later painted in styles similar to the furniture in homes throughout the area, with floral patterns - known as kurbits - particularly popular. Traveling salesmen made the horses popular throughout the country and the Dalahastar, as they became known (or Dalecarlian horse), were even used as bartering currency, such was their popularity. Another story is that a soldier carved a horse as a gift for a child in a home where he had been given lodgings and it was so well-received, he was given food in return.

In 1939, the World’s Fair came to New York. The Swedish pavilion included a painted Dalecarlian horse that was almost three metres tall and proved very popular with visitors. In the 12 months after the Fair, around 20,000 Dalecarlian horses were shipped over to New York alone. It’s become a symbol of good luck in Sweden and across Scandinavia.

This article was published in November 2022.