Around 450 BC there was a great flowering of Celtic art that was a very organic in style, with flowing curves and leaf-like structures shaped into abstract patterns and animal forms. The La Tene style of Celtic art was named after a site in Switzerland where a large concentration of objects was found. Weapons and other metal objects that were decorated with wave patterns and stylized plant and animal shapes were found thrown into a lake as ritual offerings.

Celtic art reached its zenith after 750 AD with a conversion to Christianity that resulted in monasteries becoming the new cultural centers. Celtic Christian art produced manuscripts of the Bible that were illuminated with decorative borders of complex, twining geometric designs.

These interlocking knotted shapes and twisted spirals symbolize Celtic art and design to the present day.