# Poll: Best icon to represent athiesm **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721 "2009-09-19T16:41:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/41 "2009-09-20T17:01:31Z")
> [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](#): > > I haven’t clicked all the links in this thread, so I don’t know if this one has been offered up yet or not. I like the reasoning behind [this guy’s idea.](http://calladus.blogspot.com/2007/08/another-non-believers-symbol.html) Excellent! Everyone knows that atheists are a bunch of pansies! (Sorry… But if you go with that, better get used to it.) ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/42 "2009-09-20T18:00:21Z")
A brain icon. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/43 "2009-09-20T18:07:33Z")
[No contest](http://blogs.watoday.com.au/digital-life/screenplay/GhostbustersLogo.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/44 "2009-09-20T22:40:35Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > It should be something that wouldn’t exist if there were a righteous loving god. [Like this](http://www.sable-pro.net/WHERE_IS_YOUR_GOD_NOW.jpg). Oh. My. > [@Ludovic](#): > > I sort of like the thick circle with nothing in it. The circle with a slash is a bit negative. A plain old circle may be a bit hard to identify as meaning anything specific. Astethically, I still prefer it over anything else I’ve seen here, though I think the slashed circle is closer to the meaning of atheism. I do like the vetruvian man but I don’t think he’s right for the purpose - too much symbolism. > [@cmyk](#): > > I hate the idea of creating a symbol for atheism. I understand the compulsion, but really, it’s just stooping down to the level of organized religiosity in the first place. At least it’s something to put on your grave stone 🙂 Me, I’m planning on cremation so it’s all the same to me. > [@](#): > > Anyway, if I were forced to pick a symbol, it would be a _symbol._ NOT a logo. The difference being it’s made from simple geometry and can be drawn/reproduced by written hand and understood. Stylized logos are more art than glyph. So the Empty Set or just a Circle is better. My thinking exactly. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > 1. People for whom religion was just never an issue in their lives. I’m an atheist, I was born an atheist. I never evaluated religion or examined anything. It was just not a part of my upbringing. Thank you for making that point so that I don’t have to. 🙂 > [@Zerc](#): > > How about the symbol for infinity - ∞ ? Sort of like the empty set symbol but the other extreme? Urgh. No. That’s giving completely the wrong idea. > [@Captain\_Awesome](#): > > [No contest](http://blogs.watoday.com.au/digital-life/screenplay/GhostbustersLogo.jpg). 😃 No. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/45 "2009-09-20T22:45:13Z")
Actually, I’ve changed my mind. ∅ gets my vote. If only because it will allow a nice lot of variations for the splinter groups 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/46 "2009-09-20T22:57:57Z")
How about Satan impaling Jesus on his scaly cock? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/47 "2009-09-20T23:13:49Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > My two cents: > > 1. The atom logo is a bad one. A tiny fraction of people recognize it and it evokes science and not atheism. > > 2. My recommendations for logos for atheist, theist, agnostic, all having a unified look: [Link](http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo55/qdinn/atheism/Picture2.png) What up G? those icons are straight up gangsta yo ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/48 "2009-09-20T23:17:00Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > How about Satan impaling Jesus on his scaly cock? Have that pick ready do ya? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/49 "2009-09-20T23:23:14Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > My recommendations for logos for atheist, theist, agnostic, all having a unified look: [Link](http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo55/qdinn/atheism/Picture2.png) I very much like those. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/50 "2009-09-21T01:11:01Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > How about Satan impaling Jesus on his scaly cock? Well, if you want an aggressively anti-God symbol I’d go for the Godkiller logo from the old novel _The Jehovah Contract_. A closeup of the face of Michelangelo’s version of God from the Sistine Chapel with a sniper’s crosshairs superimposed over the temple. They sold T-shirts with it in the novel. More seriously; if a symbol is necessary how about something like a simple, plain letter “A” ? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/51 "2009-09-21T01:14:21Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > More seriously; if a symbol is necessary how about something like a simple, plain letter “A” ? It’s so Hester Prynne, and that woman was not fashion-forward at all! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/52 "2009-09-21T01:47:42Z")
You know how football fans wear the logo of their favorite team on their apparel or their cars—what would an icon be to represent complete disinterest in football? Or how some people wear the insignia of their college on T-shirts and bumper stickers. How about a logo for people who didn’t go to college? Cause that’s kind of what the idea of an icon to represent atheism seems like to me. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/53 "2009-09-21T03:29:00Z")
Thudlow: precisely. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/54 "2009-09-21T07:13:57Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Seriously. Why do I need an icon to represent my absence of belief? Because otherwise you won’t have anything to hold up to ward off vampires, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/55 "2009-09-21T08:22:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Because otherwise you won’t have anything to hold up to ward off vampires, of course. Dude, I’m Italian. I have enough garlic in me at all times to ward of a frikkin’ vampire apocalypse. Heck, I’m the reason we haven’t had one yet. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/56 "2009-09-21T20:51:23Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You know how football fans wear the logo of their favorite team on their apparel or their cars—what would an icon be to represent complete disinterest in football? > … > Cause that’s kind of what the idea of an icon to represent atheism seems like to me. Yeah, that’s why we have a word for “someone who has a complete disinterest in football”, just like we have a word for “atheist” Also, that’s why there is a national organization for “people who have a complete disinterest in football”, just like we have [“American Atheists”](http://www.atheists.org/) And, finally, that’s why there are tons of websites devoted to the subject of “having a complete disinterest in football”, just like we have tons of websites [devoted](http://centerforatheism.org/) [to the](http://friendlyatheist.com/) [subject](http://www.atheists.org/) [of](http://www.metroplexatheists.org/Default.aspx) [atheism](http://www.atheistalliance.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/57 "2009-09-22T13:33:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > More seriously; if a symbol is necessary how about something like a simple, plain letter “A” ? That’s a pretty good idea. In fact, someone in the ATMB thread did a whole slew of icons, and I thought he handled the religion thing pretty well. What he did was make a series of rectangle buttons with rounded corners. Inside each was a capital G. Then, for theist, he had a check mark beside the G. For the atheist, he had an X mark beside the G. And for the agnostic, he had a question mark beside the G. I thought those were great. Simple and self-explanatory. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/58 "2009-09-22T23:58:41Z")
Well sure, that’s great if everyone speaks English. How about something for people with a different vocabulary or alphabet? Fleur de Pensee is the way to go. Shows you think. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/59 "2009-09-23T00:11:45Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I sort of like the thick circle with nothing in it. The circle with a slash is a bit negative. I like the circle too. Nice and simple, sort of "all-encompassing, and a symbol of the only place we will ever exist–Earth (as opposed to Heaven or some such). ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/60 "2009-09-23T05:12:34Z")
I like **Zerc** ’s idea of the\*\* infinity\*\* symbol. No beginning, no end. No cause, no reason. And it goes on forever. And props to Captain\_Awsome (post #43) for tellin’ it like it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721.md?page=4)