# Please help identify this logo / symbol **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300 "2017-11-21T17:53:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NeoCortex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@NeoCortex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeoCortex)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/1 "2017-11-21T17:53:52Z")
Hello everyone, I’ve never posted on the message board previously but this is driving me insane. This logo or symbol is on a swiss army knife that I inherited from my father. [https://imgur.com/gallery/73xB6](https://imgur.com/gallery/73xB6) Any have a clue? Thank you in advance! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/2 "2017-11-21T20:33:11Z")
Probably a symbol denoting a military unit or other organization. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/3 "2017-11-21T20:40:14Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Probably a symbol denoting a military unit or other organization. Or it could be a company logo … I did a quick image search and Swiss army knives come with quite the variety of company logos … ---
**Author:** ![NeoCortex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@NeoCortex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeoCortex)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/4 "2017-11-21T21:02:56Z")
Both good guesses. I even found a few symbol/logo identification websites but came up with nothing so far. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/5 "2017-11-21T21:13:20Z")
Did it by any chance take a trip through Asia before coming to it’s final resting place? You often see logos with “three things” on them in East Asian countries (I think originally from China). Mitsubishi, Samsung… as that number is considered lucky. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/6 "2017-11-21T23:16:15Z")
It’s a stylized triskelion of some kind. Unfortunately, it isn’t a version I recognize as belonging to any particular organization. ---
**Author:** ![NeoCortex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@NeoCortex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeoCortex)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/7 "2017-11-22T05:50:05Z")
Wow youre right. I did notice right away the center is an upside down inonizing radiation symbol but i had never heard of a triskelion and your onservation is the best info ive received thus far. Theres appears to be hundreds or thousands of different variations online. Its a step in the right direction, thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/8 "2017-11-22T11:59:29Z")
I remembered seeing something that this reminded me of recently. I finally realized that it was [the symbol on the soul van](https://imgur.com/a/weLKk) (doo-deet-doo, doo-deet-doo) in _Preacher_ (season 2, episode 6). FWIW, there is some possibility of a common inspiration, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/9 "2017-11-22T15:50:15Z")
What is the object on which the logo appears? Electronic notebook? Phone? Cigarette case? Knowing where it was displayed might help identify it. What does the rest of the truncated chevron at the top of the photo look like? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/10 "2017-11-22T15:53:44Z")
> [@NeoCortex](#): > > This logo or symbol is on a swiss army knife that I inherited from my father. > [@tomndebb](#): > > What is the object on which the logo appears? Electronic notebook? Phone? Cigarette case? > Knowing where it was displayed might help identify it. Swiss army knife. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/11 "2017-11-23T20:22:40Z")
Victorinox has a program in which corporations or others can have their logos placed on the Victorinox tools. I realize that this does not get you closer, (I tried looking up corporate logos with triskelions and did not find it), but it might give you an avenue to pursue. (Call Victorinox and ask if they can identify it?) **NeoCortex** , what companies did your dad (or his family) work for? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/12 "2017-11-23T20:42:15Z")
I did a reverse image search and found this: [“Please help identify this logo / symbol”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20620348#post20620348) at [StraightDope.com](http://StraightDope.com) … aren’t I helpful today !!! ---
**Author:** ![NeoCortex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@NeoCortex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeoCortex)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/13 "2017-11-23T20:45:23Z")
Thanks TomnDebb. I’ve already been in touch with Victorinox and have gone back and forth over email with them over the last several days. The commercial side didn’t uncover anything so they elevated it to a director level person at Victorinox yesterday afternoon. My father was independently employed for nearly 45 years so Im fairly certain it wouldnt be an employer logo related to his career. He was a Freemason for a short time, however I don’t think the knife dates back that far. I’ll let everyone know if the folks at Victorinox discover anything. Thank you for the ideas everyone. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![NeoCortex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@NeoCortex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeoCortex)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2017, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/14 "2017-11-23T20:47:05Z")
Hahaha funny Wolf! ---
**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:** [November 23, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/15 "2017-11-23T22:49:20Z")
Looks like a cross between TDK [![](https://mms.businesswire.com/bwapps/mediaserver/ViewMedia?mgid=288851&vid=4) ](https://mms.businesswire.com/bwapps/mediaserver/ViewMedia?mgid=288851&vid=4) and wool symbol. [![](https://www.logodesignlove.com/images/classic/woolmark-logos.jpg) ](https://www.logodesignlove.com/images/classic/woolmark-logos.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/16 "2017-11-24T08:29:36Z")
It looks like some variant of the _[mitsudomoe](http://paulelder.org/2010/01/29/what-is-a-tomoye/)_ style of _kamon_ (Japanese crest), very popular for corporate logos. So maybe search for that. ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/17 "2017-11-24T11:04:37Z")
No answer (sorry) but to me it looks more like three boxes rushing at each other. More three-dimensional than a flat looking triskelion. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/18 "2017-11-24T13:19:15Z")
It looks like the sort of logo a chemical company would have. (And I say that as someone who has more than a couple of chemical-company-branded Swiss army knives.) ---
**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:** [November 24, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/19 "2017-11-24T13:52:17Z")
Saying that it’s a triskelion doesn’t really help much, beyond giving you a Google search term, because all that “triskelion” means is “symbol with threefold rotational symmetry”. And no part of it resembles the ionizing radiation symbol, beyond the fact that both are triskelions (as are the biohazard symbol, the Civic Defense symbol, and the recycling symbol). ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300/20 "2017-11-24T14:05:23Z")
Certainly a custom corporate badged knife. I think Victorinox did these in quite short runs if needed. More the sort of thing that would be used as a gift item than much else. Maybe a presentation item. Depends upon how insane a knife it is attached to. I have a feeling there were third party vendros that would also badge knives, so it might not have been Victorinox themselves that made it. It took a while but I’m pretty sure the logo is based upon three intertwined square section rods. Much more of a western design if so. My first thought was some form of rolled steel or similar industrial product logo. Cable would be round or hexagonal rather than square section. But it has the look of a logo for a company that either manufactures or fabricates using a rolled or extruded section. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-this-logo-symbol/802300.md?page=2)