Monogram IHS stands for Iesus Hominum Salvator (Jezus the Savior of Humanity) or In Hoc Signo (In this sign will you win). The pillar refers to the club of Hercules, his favorite weapon. It symbolizes power. Since antiquity the ‘Pillars of Hercules’ are also the name of the promontories at both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. Hence they also symbolize the frontier between the known and unknown world (Nec Plus Ultra, "nothing further beyond"), and later they also became symbols for the opposite, i.e. taking risks and confronting the unknown (Plus Ultra, ‘further beyond’). In the Spanish royal crest they also stand for the overseas possessions.
