Inti — The Sun God of the Inca

The Sapa Inca — the supreme ruler of Tawantinsuyu — was not merely a king. He was the Son of Inti, the living representative of the sun on earth, whose authority derived directly from the solar deity who made all life in the Andes possible. The Coricancha temple in Cusco, dedicated to Inti, was covered in sheets of gold that reflected the sunlight so brilliantly that Spanish soldiers reported being temporarily blinded when they first saw it. The Spanish melted it all down. The stone temple survived — it forms the base of the Church of Santo Domingo in Cusco today, the Inca foundation holding up the Spanish conquest that tried to erase it.

These signs carry the golden sun disc, the radiant face of Inti, the Coricancha gold, and the solar calendar that governed every aspect of Inca life.