Symbols are words, shapes, marks, or signs that stand for certain meanings in logo design and branding. All the words we speak and the shapes we see, even the sounds we hear, are symbolic of some meaning. Understanding of the basic shape psychology also helps in effectively using symbols in brand identities.
When we see a red hexagon on the top of a pole on a roadside, we immediately recognize it to mean ‘stop’. The ‘check’ mark or the ‘tick’ mark signifies work well done, something that’s taken care of; or done correctly or even a brand like Nike. Even our names are intended to represent us; they are symbols of individuals, we could say.
In this article, and the next post on famous symbols, we will explore the origins of some of the most famous symbols in the world and uncover the stories behind them. It’s going to be an interesting read. And while we don’t claim that our storytelling will be as riveting as Dan Brown’s Professor Langdon’s, we’re going to try our best.
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While the modern culture of today depicts the heart as a symbol of romantic love, it was not always so. There are a few theories surrounding the earliest use of the heart- shaped symbol in logo design and how its meanings evolved over the centuries.
In the earliest times, 7th century BCE Egypt, the heart symbol was a representation of a popular herbal contraceptive in health logos of that time: the plant Silphium. It was such a popular and effective herb that it was over-cultivated and had gone extinct by the 1st century BCE. But while it flourished, it made countries rich and popular. It was also a very versatile plant. From its roots to its resin, every part of it was useful and proven to treat ailments such as coughs, sore throats, and even leprosy and wart removal.
It was so popular that the plant was depicted on official currencies of Cyrene (present-day Libya) where this plant was heavily cultivated. Historians have also found coins where the seed of Silphium has been engraved to mark it official.
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So how did the seed of Silphium come to be translated to mean the shape of the human heart in later years?
It happened in the early 14th century when an Italian painter Giotto drew a painting that depicted the Christian virtue Charity handing her heart to Jesus Christ. This heart is painted in the shape of a pine cone that is held upside down and portrays a shape very similar to the modern heart.
From then on, other painters and artists picked up on the trend and eventually the heart came to symbolize love, and later, romantic love.
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However, there is another theory, an earthier one that attributes the meanings of romantic or sexual love associated with the heart shape to the shape of certain organs of the female body. Which organs these might be, we leave it to you and your Google search.
The Trinity knot is known by many names: Irish Love Knot, the Celtic Knot, and Celtic Love Knot, among a few. It is also called Triquetra, meaning ‘three-cornered’ in Latin. It is called so because the design uses three arcs that are interlaced. The knot is a popular Celtic symbol and holds deep religious meanings for the Celtic Christian church and in some cults, this symbol is used for church logos.
But before the church adopted it as its own, it stood to mean something else. But what exactly, no one is sure. For example, it appears on ancient Indian heritage sites that are thousands of years old. Historians and archeologists have found it engraved on ancient German coins, carved on stones in Northern Europe of the 8th century AD, and even present on ancient architecture as decorative symbols.
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Then, of course, it has also been found decorated on the Book of Kells; not to mention that pagans and Wiccans claim it as their own and use it to represent the protective symbol of the Triple Goddess.
Hardly one can say for certain. But the modern revival of the Celtic culture has made sure that its Christian meanings of representing the Holy Trinity – the father, the son, and the spirit – prevail as the most popular.
Unlike the symbols we’ve discussed so far, the peace symbol is a rather new and modern sign. Its meanings are also quite uncontested and widely known. However, it is also one of those symbols that was intended to mean something else and came to be associated with something else entirely. However, in this case, the two meanings are not that far apart and can be understood as the same thing.
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So what is now known as the international symbol of peace was originally designed as a campaign logo for the anti-nuclear movement, started in the 1950s.
In 1958, British designer and artist, Gerald Holtom was approached by a famous UK peace group Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which was fighting for world peace and championing to end the race for nuclear weapons. They wanted a visual symbol that could represent their movement and cause.
The logo gained immediate stardom and was soon adopted as the universal sign of peace and anti-warfare by activists, organizations, and peace groups all over the world.
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Presently, it is one of the most widely recognized symbols in the world and adorns banners, t-shirts, logos, and everything else to do with harmony.
One of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted symbols of modern times; the anarchy symbol is popularly interpreted as a sign of chaos and lawlessness. The intended meaning of the symbol could not be farthest from it. The sign of anarchy was originally designed by the French journalist and libertarian, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and consists of the capital letter ‘A’ surrounded by the capital letter ‘O’. The A and O stand for Anarchy and Order. The monogram symbol stands for the phrase: ‘Society seeks order in anarchy’.
Anarchy is a political philosophy just like democracy, monarchy, communism, or liberalism. It is a form of governance that rejects the ideas of central, hierarchal authorities in place but in no way it promotes the absence of law. Rather, it encourages a state of existence where communities can create voluntary institutions, laws, and rules that must be followed to ensure equality and justice for all. However, what anarchy doesn’t stand for is a central government where authority is placed into the hands of a few and they can have the power to exercise that authority over everyone else. In that sense, anarchy is a highly individualized concept that believes in equality and freedom for all.
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The ideology of anarchy gained huge momentum during the French revolution but it was also the time when it started getting negativity associated with it. The rich and powerful who didn’t want to see their authority fade interpreted anarchy as a state of chaos, danger, and destruction.
Unfortunately, these connotations carry to this day. And they gain even more meaning when misinformed or uninformed proponents of anarchy take to the streets and waving the anarchy symbol vandalize properties or put things to fire. Those who oppose anarchy then use such imagery to further their agendas.
On the subject of symbols in political logos, perhaps the two well-recognized symbols of American politics – the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant – are worth a mention.
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How these two came into existence are quite interesting stories. While the donkey was a result of a clever political maneuver, both are indebted to the famous political satirist and cartoonist, Thomas Nast, for the widespread recognition, association, and popularity they gained.
In 1828, when the war hero Andrew Jackson was running for president, his opponents started calling him a ‘Jackass’, in what they thought must have been a clever play on his last name. However, Jackson was too much for them to handle. As a master of turning things into his favor, Mr. Jackson wholly embraced the donkey as his political symbol and started printing it on his campaign posters.
Thomas Nast, who was with the popular magazine Harper’s Weekly at the time, started depicting the donkey in his cartoons as a representation of the whole of the Democratic Party. And thus, the Democratic Donkey was born.
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Nast’s creation of the Republican elephant was more gradual, however. He first used an oafish elephant to depict the party as a confused and huge being that wasn’t sure which way to go (or which policies to adopt) in his popular Third-Term Panic cartoon. In the ensuing years, he used the confused and huge elephant multiple times to portray the Republican Party, and soon the popular association was established.
The Eye of the Providence, most popularly known as the All-Seeing Eye of God, is a symbol containing multiple but similar meanings. From the earliest days of the Christian church, the symbol has meant to represent the ever-watchful eye of God. The three corners of the triangle representing the Holy Trinity and the lights emanating from it are the lights of providence, of glory.
Going back even further, we see the eye being used in ancient Egypt
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