Misinterpretation of Symbols
Misinterpretation of symbols
Now days people tend to have a fashion use for certain symbols such as the heart, cross, peace sign, etc. without taking in consideration that it might offend others. Symbols are used worldwide to represent many things like religion and emotions, but we have to keep in mind that some symbols look or are the same in many cultures but they do not always have the same meaning.
Many societies have forgotten the original meaning of a symbol, replacing it with a more modern one, to prove this I decided to quiz four of my friends. I showed them five different symbols and asked them to tell me the first thing that came to their minds. The symbols I used consisted of four that have been around for many years and one relatively new. The pentagram, the inverted cross, the trident, the swastika and the heartogram.
I started with the easiest one, the heartogram, which happens to be a logo created by the band HIM, though recently it has taken the meaning of love and hate or live and death. All four recognized this symbol from the band and knew the meanings for it.
When I showed them the trident, three responded to represent the Devil, and one said it’s the symbol for Poseidon, the sea God. I was actually surprised that this was his first response, when I asked him why was his this first response he said was,” I remember seeing it in the ‘the Da Vinci code’ movie”. I am glad that he could remember such a tiny detail of that movie.
Another famous symbol is the inverted cross, all four responded that it represents evil, the Devil and metal bands. They found it shocking when I informed them that before it had all those meanings, it originally is a trademark of Saint Peter, the first Pope, at first they did not believe me so I showed them what I had found on my research. Before Saint Peter was crucified he requested that he be crucified upside down because he did not feel worth of dying in the same way as Jesus. We all found ironic that those who
Now days people tend to have a fashion use for certain symbols such as the heart, cross, peace sign, etc. without taking in consideration that it might offend others. Symbols are used worldwide to represent many things like religion and emotions, but we have to keep in mind that some symbols look or are the same in many cultures but they do not always have the same meaning.
Many societies have forgotten the original meaning of a symbol, replacing it with a more modern one, to prove this I decided to quiz four of my friends. I showed them five different symbols and asked them to tell me the first thing that came to their minds. The symbols I used consisted of four that have been around for many years and one relatively new. The pentagram, the inverted cross, the trident, the swastika and the heartogram.
I started with the easiest one, the heartogram, which happens to be a logo created by the band HIM, though recently it has taken the meaning of love and hate or live and death. All four recognized this symbol from the band and knew the meanings for it.
When I showed them the trident, three responded to represent the Devil, and one said it’s the symbol for Poseidon, the sea God. I was actually surprised that this was his first response, when I asked him why was his this first response he said was,” I remember seeing it in the ‘the Da Vinci code’ movie”. I am glad that he could remember such a tiny detail of that movie.
Another famous symbol is the inverted cross, all four responded that it represents evil, the Devil and metal bands. They found it shocking when I informed them that before it had all those meanings, it originally is a trademark of Saint Peter, the first Pope, at first they did not believe me so I showed them what I had found on my research. Before Saint Peter was crucified he requested that he be crucified upside down because he did not feel worth of dying in the same way as Jesus. We all found ironic that those who
References: Watson, J. (2012, February 12) Marines: Nazi flag was mistaken for their own. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0209/Marines-Nazi-flag-was-mistaken-for-their-own The pentagram in depth. (2011, October 20) Retrieved from http://symboldictionary.net/?p=1893 Washington d. c. geometry (n.d.) Retrieved from http://home.hiwaay.net/~jalison/after2.html Philip, M. (2010, July 02) 8 Historic Symbols That Mean The Opposite of What You Think. [blog post] Retrieved from http://www.cracked.com/article_18606_8-historic-symbols-that-mean-opposite-what-you-think.html Ministries, K. (n.d.) Symbols and their meanings. Retrieved from http://www.crossroad.to/Books/symbols1.html