Logos

Asian Humankind Symbol

The ancient pictographic character for a human or for humankind is virtually the same in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Okinawan, Miyakoan, and many other east Asian languages.

In Chinese, pictographic characters of the alphabet are called “hanzi.” In Japanese they are called “kanji.” They are called “hanja” in Korean, and “Han Nom” in Vietnamese. In Mandarin, this humankind character it is called “ren.” In Japanese, it’s called “hito,” “nin,” or “jin,” depending on how it is used.

We love the exquisite simplicity of this primeval character, its universality, and the visual truth it conveys that all of us everywhere, men and women alike, share far more than what separates us. We are One People, and the “ren” or “hito” character expresses that elemental truth beautifully and powerfully.

Human Rights Symbol

In 2011, the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Germany, Mauritius, Senegal, Singapore, and Uruguay launched a worldwide competition for the creation of a universally recognized human rights logo that people everywhere could display and share. Fifteen thousand entries came from 190 countries, demonstrating that people everywhere are committed to the ideals enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The winner was graphic designer Predrag Stakic of Serbia, whose exquisite design is a mix of two symbols: a bird and a hand. “Human rights are the greatest human invention in history,” Stakic told reporters. “If we don’t understand, respect, protect, and fight for human rights, we don’t deserve to be called human.”

We love Stakic’s wonderful blend of the dove of peace and the human hand that symbolizes action. His creation is a perfect symbol, and we are delighted to help spread its use around the world.

Om Symbol

The Om sound and symbol have their origins in Hinduism, but they are also common to other religions, including Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Some scholars claim that the Christian word Amen and the Islamic word Amin come from the word Om as well. No one really knows when the symbol began to be used. The three-part Om symbol represents the three stages universal to all living—birth, life, and death—as well as the three-part unions of body, mind, and spirit and heaven, earth, and the underworld.

When NASA scientists recorded the sounds created by the explosions of the sun, many were struck with the sense that they sounded uncannily like the sound of Om. Om, in fact, may be the most elemental sound in the universe, and we love sharing this ancient much-revered symbol.

Peace Symbol

Back by popular demand! What has come to be known as the peace symbol was created by British designer Gerald Holtom for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958. The vertical line in the center represents the flag semaphore signal for the letter D, and the downward lines on either side represent the semaphore signal for the letter N—N and D for nuclear disarmament. Holtom also described the symbol as representing despair, with the central lines forming a human whose hands are stretched out at its sides to plead or pray—or both—against the backdrop of the round and imperiled earth. 

In the 1960s, Holtom’s design began to be associated more generally with the universal cry for peace, and virtually everyone worldwide continues to instantly recognize the symbol and what it represents. We have always loved this powerful symbol and its profound meaning, and we are proud to help keep it contemporary in an era in which the demand for peace is more important than ever.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lace Symbol

The late and much-beloved United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg symbolically “feminized” traditional male judicial robes by adding lace collars over her robes. During her twenty-seven years on the Supreme Court, the collars became a powerful symbol of Ginsburg’s own fierce and unwavering commitment to justice for everyone who was long denied justice, and for the belief, as the justice herself put it, that “women belong in all places where decisions are being made.”

We offer the lace logo only on black shirts because, well, judicial robes are solely black, whether worn by men or women.

 

Earth Symbol

We abuse it with climate change and over-population and endless wars, but this is the only planet we’ve got. When NASA astronauts first saw the Earth from the moon, they perceived a “beautiful blue marble” in the black vastness of space, a planet that appeared to have no borders, no conflicts, nor challenges of any kind.

Today, this is the dream we hold dear—an Earth that is clean, safe, bountiful, and beautiful in its endless variety. Our Earth symbol expresses love for our planet and the commitment to sustain it for all of us and all life forever.