Sapphire Symbolism, Origin, and Uses

Sapphires are a precious stone. They’re usually popular and associated with other precious stones like diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. Just like these other gemstones, the sapphire has symbolism thanks to its popularity and rich history.

To learn more about sapphires, the lore surrounding these gems, and how the symbolism changes between colors, continue reading below.

What Are Sapphires?

Sapphire comes from the Latin word sapphirus and the Greek word sappheiros. Both mean “precious gem or stone.” Some linguists believe the word dates back to the Sanskrit word sanipriya. This means “dark-colored stone” or “dear to Saturn.”

Sapphires are from the mineral corundum. Rubies are also made from the same mineral. However, they have an impurity to give the stone a red color, instead of blue.

Sapphires can’t be red, because then they are classified as rubies, but they can be any other color. Blue is just the most commonly associated color when it comes to sapphires.

It may sound odd to rename a stone simply based on the color, but when you think about it, stones like quartz are also called different names based on the colors inside, such as rose quartz or amethyst.

Currently, the red and blue versions of sapphire are the most popular and have been that way for a long time. If another version of sapphire ended up growing high in demand, it’s likely the name would eventually change to make it a uniquely named gem instead of just a subset of sapphire.

Different Sapphire Colors

Most of the meanings of sapphire come from blue gems. However, there are plenty of other colors. While most of them help protect the wearer in some way and provide important wisdom, they have slightly different meanings and uses outside of that.

Blue Sapphire

Blue sapphires are the standard. Iron and titanium are what provide the stone its unique color. They represent truth, sincerity, confidence, and importance.

Green Sapphire

Green sapphires get their color from trace amounts of iron. These stones are often associated with tranquility. They also help with vision and compassion, reduce mental tension, remove unwanted thoughts, balance the body, and provide integrity.

Pink Sapphire

Pink sapphires are associated with love and forgiveness. They also allow the wearer to release the feelings they’ve been holding on to.

Violet Sapphire

Violet sapphires help with spiritualism, meditation, and peace. These purple stones also take the feelings that come with love and make them stronger.

Black Sapphire

Black sapphires are for those who need wisdom and confidence. They are also said to help people get work, and reduce sorrow and anxiety.

White Sapphire

White sapphires provide the wearer with strength and wisdom. If you’re facing hurdles while on a spiritual journey, a white sapphire should help you eliminate them. It also helps with clarity and communication.

Yellow Sapphire

Yellow sapphires are for prosperity and wisdom. They also help with financial issues and keep you focused on your dreams and future goals for better success.

Lore Behind Sapphires

Sapphires have a long history. These gemstones were revered and considered valuable dating back to 800 BC. Because they date back so far and were so unique and stunning, people established many different myths and lore about how these stones came into existence.

In Persia, the earth was thought to balance on a giant sapphire. This is what supposedly gave the sky its blue color. In Ancient Greece and Rome, these sparkling blue stones held power.

Even in the Middle Ages, these stones were the focus of a lot of lore. Many members of royalty wore the stone to repel evil. They were also said to prevent envy and attract favor from the gods. This is also about the time that sapphires were used to actually describe sapphires, and not just all blue stones.

According to the Catholic church, sapphire is one of the 12 sacred stones created by God. It’s one of only two that are still considered a precious stone, and not a semiprecious stone or lower. The other is emerald. However, it’s likely not sapphires that were mentioned in the Bible. There’s supposedly a sapphire out there on which the Ten Commandments were written as well.

Star Sapphires

Sapphires with asterism were even more rare and had a rich lore about them. This asterism effect happens when specific inclusions within the gem create star shapes in the reflections. These sapphires were called star sapphires or asteria.

You know when you look at stones in the light, and you get a little ball of light reflected at you? With the right inclusion, this reflection will look like a star. Each type of stone has slightly different star shapes. Garnets, for example, have stars that look a little like an X, with four points.

Sapphires, however, have three bars, and therefore six points. These unique stones brought prestige with them wherever the owner went. In Christianity, a star sapphire is considered to be the “Stone of Destiny.” The three bars stood for faith, hope, and destiny.

These stones are also said to act as talismans from ill omens and even illnesses. The star symbol was said to scare away evil as well. So strong was this magic that even if the stone left the owner, the power of the stone remained.

The Symbolism Associated With Sapphires

Sapphire is often associated with wisdom, prophecy, divine favor, power, and strength.

Royalty wore sapphires in crowns and jewelry for several reasons. The stunning blue stones were said to bring in wealth. They also protected those wearing the stones from both infidelity and envy.

For a long time, people also thought the gem helped to bring peace. Lovers could overcome their frustrations and misunderstandings and even adversaries could connect and become friends.

Sapphires also protected people against fraud. This helped those involved in legal issues, especially those who were falsely accused.

There was also the rumor that sapphires protected health. While the stone was said to help with general health issues and illnesses, the main focus was on poisons. It was widely believed that sapphires offered an antidote to poisons.

Sapphire as a Birthstone

Sapphires are the birthstone for September. This means that people born in that month are generally wise and healthy. It also means that they are the birthstone for Virgos, who were born in early September. Specifically, for both, it is blue sapphires that represent them.

This is likely because blue sapphires are reminiscent of water, which is the type of zodiac sign that Virgos are. It also encourages communication and calmness. Both of these are associated with Mercury and Virgos.

Wearing your birthstone is meant to enhance your natural traits. Also, those that wear stones associated with their birth get more benefits from the stone.

Look around at alternative birthstones, your birthstone for the month, and the stones associated with your zodiac sign to get an idea of which stones you’ll benefit from using the most.

If you happened to be born between 10 and 11 a.m. In September and your sign is a Virgo, you’re triple-lucky as a blue sapphire is the stone for all three!

In addition to being a birthstone, sapphires symbolize a wedding anniversary. They’re most commonly used for the 45th wedding anniversary. Often, blue sapphires are used, but if you want to change it up, you could use any color of sapphire.