Russian Orthodox cross is also called just Orthodox cross. At the same time the Orthodox churches use different crosses and any of them is called "Orthodox cross". Moreover, there are no such crosses like just "Orthodox" or "Catholic", each type of cross is a feature of local tradition. The cross has three horizontal crossbeams — the top one represents the plate which in the older Greek tradition is inscribed with a phrase based on John's Gospel "The King of Glory", but in later images it represents , and the bottom one, a footrest. In many depictions, the side to Christ's right is higher.
Patriarchal cross rejected and mocked Jesus and therefore descended into Hades. Many symbolic interpretations of the double cross have been put forth. One of them says that the first horizontal line symbolized the secular power and the other horizontal line the ecclesiastic power of Byzantine emperors. Also, that the first cross bar represents the death and the second cross the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Russian cross can be considered a modified version of the Patriarchal cross, having two smaller crossbeams, one at the top and one near the bottom, in addition to the longer crossbeam. One suggestion is the lower crossbeam