# Lapel pin with planet / orbit motif - Can anyone identify this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2016, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396 "2016-01-07T06:05:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/1 "2016-01-07T06:05:59Z")
I’ve recently come across [this lapel pin](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/wolfstu/IMG_0182_zpsfocewvrw.jpg) with what to me looks like a representation of a planet with the traces of two orbits around it. Can anyone identify this? Is this the symbol of some organization? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/2 "2016-01-07T13:49:03Z")
Looks like an atom to me, which suggests it’s associated with something scientific? Almost Art Deco. I can’t find anything similar to it. The oddest thing is that it’s spherical when most lapel pins are flat. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/3 "2016-01-07T22:36:30Z")
I don’t know, but I want it. It’s like something Ultraman would wear when he was in human form. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/4 "2016-01-07T22:51:48Z")
Cool. It’s possible it has absolutely nothing to with that imagery–something positively utilitarian, perhaps (see thread on strange grid-like ball). ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/5 "2016-01-07T23:30:21Z")
Perhaps an old pocketwatch fob? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/6 "2016-01-08T00:07:10Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Looks like an atom to me, which suggests it’s associated with something scientific? Almost Art Deco. I can’t find anything similar to it. The oddest thing is that it’s spherical when most lapel pins are flat. Yes, what does the pin part look like? It seems more like a tie tack. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/7 "2016-01-08T00:41:27Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Yes, what does the pin part look like? It seems more like a tie tack. The back of the pin is of this type: [http://www.pinmart.com/assets/1/19/DimRegular/42back.jpg?7752](http://www.pinmart.com/assets/1/19/DimRegular/42back.jpg?7752) (Not actually the pin in question, but it’s the same kind of construction.) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/8 "2016-01-08T01:09:44Z")
Could it be an earring? ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/9 "2016-01-08T02:00:40Z")
Uranium Mines of Pribram. Actually, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/10 "2016-01-08T15:10:18Z")
This is driving me crazy, because I’m almost certain I’ve seen that symbol before, but I can’t remember where. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/11 "2016-01-08T15:27:03Z")
Variation of an Atheist Symbol? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/12 "2016-01-08T16:24:45Z")
[QUOTE=Enola Straight] Variation of an Atheist Symbol? [/QUOTE] That was my guess as well before even seeing the item, but if there’s an “official” version, it’s probably the one adopted by the VA (US Veterans Affairs) for use on government headstones. [#16 on this page.](http://www.cem.va.gov/hmm/emblems.asp) Something described as a “new” symbol adopted in 2007 looks rather like a car maker’s logo, especially in [this rendering](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2007/10/23/new-atheist-symbol/). So, no, this little doodad probably isn’t a representation of atheism. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/13 "2016-01-08T18:42:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > This is driving me crazy, because I’m almost certain I’ve seen that symbol before, but I can’t remember where. Yeah, I had a similar thought, that this was familiar somehow, but I can’t place it. My mother found it in a second-hand shop in Sault Ste Marie, I think. I work in space exploration, so it’d be a fun little lapel pin with the ‘orbit and planet’ motif, but I don’t want to wear it to a reception and find out it’s the badge of the International League of Not Very Nice People. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/14 "2016-01-09T02:15:20Z")
Looks similar to the logo from the 1964 World’s Fair, though the orbits on that are at more of an angle. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/15 "2016-01-09T03:22:26Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Looks like an atom to me, which suggests it’s associated with something scientific? Almost Art Deco. I can’t find anything similar to it. The oddest thing is that it’s spherical when most lapel pins are flat. It’s a globe; one ring is the equator and the perpendicular one is the line from the axial north to south pole. But that’s not the 1964 World’s Fair. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lapel-pin-with-planet-orbit-motif-can-anyone-identify-this/742396/16 "2016-01-09T04:18:31Z")
> [@wolfstu](#): > > … > > I work in space exploration… If you ever rescue a woman deep-sleeping in a drifting escape pod, don’t forget to check for her cat, ok?