Dove prisms are reflective prisms which are commonly used to invert an image, especially so when the inverted image cannot be laterally transposed. The shape of a Dove prism follows that of a truncated right-angle prism. The applications of Dove prisms are based on the theory of total internal reflection, causing the images that pass through the Dove prism to be flipped.

The Dove prism is designed as an image rotator. If the Dove prism is rotated along its longitudinal axis, the image transmitted through the prism will rotate by an angle twice of that of the rotation of the prism. Therefore Dove prisms can rotate a beam of light by an arbitrary angle, an important feature required in astronomy and interferometry.