Man, Lion, Ox, Eagle symbols
All these symbols are winged, as showing that the message of the Gospels is to go to all the earth as the concern of all men everywhere.
All four symbols are sometimes combined into one, called a Tetramorph.
Each Apostle has also his own appropriate symbol.
St. James the Greater has the escallop shell and staff of the pilgrim. His shrine in Spain was one of the great centers to which pilgrims came from all lands.
Apostle symbols—S. Peter, S. Andrew, S. James ye more,
S. Johan, S. Thomas, S. James ye less.
St. John, as an Apostle, has a cup with a winged serpent rising from it, in reference to the tradition that St. John once drank with impunity from a poisoned chalice after having made the sign of the Cross over it.