Fifth Century
Created in the fifth century to symbolize Jesus Christ’s suffering and death, the crucifix came from humble means. In its early days, the crucifix consisted of two simple bars crossing each other two-thirds of the way up, creating a lowercase ‘t’.

The crucifix, or cross, was not used in ritual worship, nor was it a religious/popular cultural symbol, until the medieval time period. Its lack of popular support stemmed from its representation of the way Christ died, which was humiliating to Christians.

Medieval time period
With the onset of the medieval time period, Christians, in particular the medieval Catholic Church, started to use the crucifix as a part of their worship. At this point, an addition was added to the cross — Christ. Depicted in the 13th century, head bowed, twisted, wracked with pain and bleeding, the image of Christ on the cross became the main centerpiece in Christian churches. For the Roman Catholic Church, the crucifix transformed from a symbol of suffering and death to a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice, human nature and resurrection. This occurred largely due to the church’s religious focus shifting to center around the doctrine of salvation.

Renaissance period
With the Renaissance period coming into bloom, the crucifix changed shape yet again; Christ was pictured without the pain and torment on his face. Due to the beliefs in the Renaissance period regarding human nature, starkly different from those of the medieval times, the image of Christ altered to show a softer side, displaying his serenity and repose in place of agony.

Today’s world
Until the 20th century, the crucifix retained its bloody iconic reign at the head of Christianity. It was not until the 1980s that the cross took off in popular culture and transcended its original meaning. The pop singer Madonna thrust the cross into the spotlight. Whether she was sporting the religious charm or lighting it on fire in one of her videos, the cross became a symbol of pop culture. Those who started to buy crosses didn’t buy them for religious reasons, but because they were a fad, a symbol of their devotion to Madonna, to rebellion and not to Christ.

In today’s world, we see celebrities and others wearing crosses, people who some may not consider devout, but this simple fact lends support to the notion that the cross does not symbolize what it initially did. To some the cross is still a deeply religious symbol, a symbol that reminds them of their belief in Christ, their devotion to God. But to others it is a symbol of their freedom, a symbol of their rebellion and, in extremes, a symbol of something completely unreligious.

In LDS culture
While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not display the crucifix in its churches, it does not take away the religious meaning of the cross. While other Christian religions choose to represent their beliefs with the symbol, the LDS Church doesn’t, mainly because the LDS Church focuses on the life of Christ, that he still lives and focuses more what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. The use of the cross in other religions does not make them idolatrous or such; for members of those religions, it holds as much significance as having a picture of Christ on the wall, or wearing the Young Woman medallion.

Sources:
www.wadsworth.com/religion_d/special_features/symbols/crucifix.html
mb-soft.com/believe/txn/cross.htm
www.newadvent.org