If you picture the Greek god of war, you probably imagine a spear, a helmet, and maybe a vulture circling overhead. That mental image is not far off, but the full story behind the Ares symbol is more layered than a single weapon. His attributes were chosen to represent the messy, brutal, and often unglamorous side of battle, not the disciplined heroism people usually associate with warfare.

This guide walks through every major Ares symbol, the animals linked to him, and why the Greeks picked these specific images to represent their least-loved Olympian.

Quick summary: Ares symbols at a glance

• Main weapon symbols: spear, sword, shield, and helmet
• Sacred animals: vulture, dog, boar, and serpent
• Other attributes: war chariot, flaming torch, and full bronze armor (panoply)
• Represents: raw aggression, bloodlust, and the chaos of combat rather than strategy
• Contrast: Athena’s owl and olive branch stood for wisdom and disciplined war, the opposite of what Ares embodied

The spear: Ares’s signature weapon

The spear is the single most common Ares symbol in Greek art and literature. Homer described Ares wielding a “spear gigantic” in the Iliad, and the weapon fit his personality perfectly: direct, aggressive, and built for close combat rather than careful planning.

Unlike Athena, who is often shown with strategic tools or an owl perched nearby, Ares’s spear had one purpose. It represented a willingness to charge straight into conflict without hesitation. There was no clever trick attached to it, just forward motion and force.

The helmet and armor

Ares is almost always shown wearing a crested helmet, along with a breastplate, shield, and sometimes a sheathed sword. This was standard gear for any Greek warrior, which actually created a small problem for ancient artists: Ares often blended into scenes of ordinary soldiers because he lacked a truly unique weapon, unlike Zeus with his thunderbolt or Poseidon with his trident.

The full set of armor, called a panoply, marked him as always ready for war. Some depictions show him nude except for the helmet and shield, emphasizing raw physical power over ceremonial dress.

The shield

Ares’s shield usually carried a generic emblem rather than a symbol unique to him specifically. Still, paired with the spear and helmet, the shield rounded out his image as a complete warrior figure. It represented the defensive side of combat, though defense was never really his focus. Ares was consistently portrayed as an attacker first.

If digging into the small details behind ancient symbols is your thing, you might enjoy going down a similar rabbit hole in [our latest article]

The vulture: Ares’s most distinct symbol

While the spear and helmet made Ares hard to identify, the vulture set him apart from every other Olympian. This bird doesn’t represent the fighting itself, but what comes after it. Vultures gather once a battle ends, which made them a fitting emblem for a god associated with the aftermath of violence rather than heroic victory.

Ancient augury, the practice of reading omens from birds, treated vultures and certain owls as signs of war, sedition, and misfortune. That association lined up neatly with how Greeks generally felt about Ares himself.

The dog, boar, and serpent

Beyond the vulture, a few other animals show up in connection with Ares, though less consistently across sources:

• The dog represented loyalty and controlled aggression, a fitting companion for a battlefield god.
• The boar appears in some myths, most notably when Ares transformed into one out of jealousy over Aphrodite’s love for Adonis.
• The serpent connects to Ares through myths like the Colchian Dragon, which guarded the Golden Fleece, and the Ismenian Dragon near Thebes. Some sources actually list the serpent, not the vulture, as his primary sacred animal.

These regional and mythic variations show that Ares’s animal symbolism wasn’t as fixed as, say, Athena’s owl or Zeus’s eagle. Different city-states and poets emphasized different creatures depending on the story being told.

The war chariot and flaming torch

Ares rode into battle on a chariot, often described as pulled by fierce, fire-breathing horses. Riding alongside him in some accounts were Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Dread), his sons with Aphrodite, reinforcing the idea that Ares brought panic wherever he went rather than order.

A flaming torch appears in some later depictions as well, tying Ares to the destruction left behind after a raid or siege, rather than the battle itself.

Why Ares’s symbols never got the respect other gods received

For an Olympian, Ares’s attributes carried surprisingly little cultural weight in ancient Greece. A peer-reviewed study of the Temple of Ares in the Athenian Agora found no confirmed temple to Ares in Athens before the Roman Imperial period, meaning even his physical symbols rarely got a proper home to be honored in.

His imagery found a warmer welcome in Thrace and Scythia, rougher regions north of Greece where raiding culture matched his personality far better than the organized city religion of Athens or Sparta. In Scythia, Ares was even worshipped in the form of a sword rather than a statue, which says a lot about how differently his symbolism was treated depending on where you were standing.

How Ares symbols appeared in ancient coins and pottery

Because Ares never received the widespread temple worship that gods like Zeus or Athena did, his symbols show up more often on everyday objects than on grand monuments. Coins from Thrace and parts of Asia Minor sometimes featured his helmet or a spear-wielding warrior figure, since these regions honored him more than mainland Greece ever did. Pottery painters faced a real challenge here too: without a lightning bolt or trident to instantly identify him, they leaned on context clues, like placing him next to Aphrodite, Deimos, and Phobos, or showing him fleeing a fight he was clearly losing.

This is part of why so few surviving artifacts confidently label a figure as Ares. Art historians often have to look at the surrounding scene, the pose, or an accompanying inscription rather than any single symbol to confirm his identity. It’s a strange fate for a war god, whose entire domain should have made him one of the easiest figures to recognize.

The modern legacy of Ares’s symbols

Today, Ares symbols show up far beyond ancient pottery and coins. Video games, comic books, and streetwear brands regularly borrow his spear, helmet, or vulture imagery to signal aggression, power, or a warrior mindset. Because his symbolism was never tied to a single sacred object the way Zeus’s thunderbolt was, modern creators have more room to reinterpret his imagery however fits their story.

This flexibility is also why Ares symbols remain a popular choice for tattoos and personal branding, as mentioned earlier. People aren’t drawing on a rigid religious tradition when they choose his spear or vulture; they’re drawing on a looser, more adaptable set of images that has always represented raw force rather than fixed doctrine.

Ares symbols vs. Athena symbols

Since Ares and Athena were both war deities, their symbols are often compared side by side.

Where Athena’s owl signaled foresight and her olive branch stood for peace after victory, Ares’s vulture signaled aftermath and loss. The contrast wasn’t accidental. Greek culture consistently valued Athena’s version of warfare over Ares’s, and their symbols reflect that judgment clearly.

Frequently Asked Questions on Ares symbols

What is Ares’s main symbol?

Ares’s main symbol is the spear, closely followed by his crested helmet. Together they represented both the offensive and identity-defining sides of his role as the god of war.

What animal represents Ares?

The vulture is the animal most closely associated with Ares, symbolizing the aftermath of battle rather than the fighting itself. The dog, boar, and serpent also appear in various myths and regional cults connected to him.

Why is the vulture linked to Ares instead of a more “heroic” bird?

The vulture reflected the unglamorous reality of war that Ares represented. Ancient Greeks used it as an omen of misfortune and conflict, which matched Ares’s reputation as a god who caused chaos rather than winning glory.

Does Ares have a plant symbol like other gods?

Ares does not have a well-known plant symbol the way Athena has the olive branch or Apollo has the laurel. His symbolism stayed almost entirely tied to weapons, armor, and animals connected to combat.

What is the difference between Ares’s symbols and Mars’s symbols?

Ares and his Roman counterpart Mars share the same core symbols, including the spear, helmet, and shield. However, Mars was also associated with agriculture and treated as a protective, respected figure in Rome, giving his symbols a more honored cultural status than Ares ever received in Greece.

Are Ares symbols popular in modern designs like tattoos?

Yes, Ares symbols have become popular choices for tattoos, particularly the spear, helmet, shield, and vulture. People often choose them to represent resilience, a fighting spirit, or having come through a personal struggle.

Conclusion

Ares never got the temples, the devoted city-states, or the clean, singular emblem that gods like Zeus or Athena enjoyed. What he got instead was a scattered collection of symbols, the spear, helmet, shield, vulture, dog, boar, and serpent, that together painted an honest picture of what war actually looks like: aggressive, chaotic, and often ugly rather than glorious.

That honesty is probably why his imagery still resonates today. Ares’s symbols were never about celebrating victory the way Athena’s owl or olive branch did. They were about representing conflict itself, stripped of strategy and stripped of honor. Whether you’re reading about him for the mythology, the art history, or just because a tattoo caught your eye, the through-line stays the same: every Ares symbol points back to raw, unfiltered force.