On the Co-opting of Symbols
There is another old poet whose name I do not now remember who said, “Truth is the daughter of Time.” –Abraham Lincoln
One of the popular symbols -The Olympic Torch- I’ve only touched on recently has been under attack. The history is not unknown, but now seems to be suddenly relevant in the wake of China Gaining the Olympic games.
Other symbols have suffered thur the ages, befallen of the whims of prettiness and pettiness, usually as part of the conquering selves. There were the Greek Gods, then the Roman Gods, that were -for the most part- a copy of the Greek gods. Pagan Symbols turned into Christian symbols. Let’s also not forget the holidays themselves. All Hallows Eve, to drive away evil spirits by dressing up and frightening them away has changed into something now unrecognizable and STILL pagan!
Politics aside, symbols have for too long been turned to evil. It’s about time we did some turning of them to good. I say comment, and name some of the bad ones that have become good.
OceansOfThought @ April 10, 2008
Oh, there are so many symbols that I associate with goodness, it’s hard to narrow the list.
I’ll start off with the “no smoking” symbol (red circle with a cross hash over a smoldering cigarette) I see in most restaurants nowadays. I know I will be able to enjoy my meal without the unpleasant attack on my lungs (or resulting smell in my clothes).
Contrary to most people, I love to see an orange traffic cone, it means a road is being repaired and that I have continued job security, one does have to pay the rent and feed one’s children, after all.
My favorite symbol on the news every night is a smiling sunshine face for the weekend, we’ve had so many clouds with snowflake symbols this year, it’s a refreshing change.
I can hardly contain my excitement when I open my email only to see a little mailbox with a letter peeking out, it means that someone wrote me a message, and the one email account I use for personal correspondence is typically SPAM-free, so I usually know it’s a real note.
I like to see my alma-matter’s MU symbol just about anywhere; I like to feel like I’m part of a large ever-present community of scholars…though the scholarly-ness of course varies from alum to alum.
You might have been looking for bigger symbols, like a bald eagle (how a scourge of the dead became a proud nationalistic figure, I’ll never know) but I find that most of my days are not comprised of tremendous occurrences, but are instead made up of many small happinesses sprinkled in unexpected places.