# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/61 "2009-09-23T05:39:52Z")
A lit candle in a dark, dark void. ---
**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 23, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/62 "2009-09-23T13:14:59Z")
That’s the icon for Marilyn Monroe. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/63 "2009-09-23T13:27:22Z")
> [@hobscrk777](#): > > [Perhaps a scarlet letter would be appropriate.](http://digg.com/d314tR5) [We have one](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&channel=s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&um=1&q=atheist+scarlet+a&sa=N&start=0&ndsp=18%5B/url). ---
**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:** [September 29, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/64 "2009-09-29T06:51:29Z")
Aesthetically, I like the invisible pink unicorn one on that one linked page, but ideologically, I’m in the “no symbol” camp. Failing that, the circle with a line through it is my second choice. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/65 "2009-09-29T13:21:40Z")
I’m voting for the brain, because we actually use ours. ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/66 "2009-09-29T14:09:09Z")
I see 3 "?"s. The atheist and theist have crossbars (no) across them and the agnostic does not. Differentiate between atheist and theist by color, say a heavenly blue for theists and red for the hell-bound atheists. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/67 "2009-09-29T14:16:42Z")
In what context exactly would a symbol be useful? Don’t like the pink unicorn one because it is easily forgettable and difficult to draw. Atoms don’t make me think of atheism, neither do darwin fish. Using any English letters or words is generally bad idea. I don’t think it’s possible to represent not believing something in a simple icon. The empty set symbol seems to be the simplest and most representative. Not that I think atheism needs club badges etc. Although that’s coming from me living in the UK where mostly everyone I meet seems to be atheist and actually admitting you go to church is an invitation to be laughed at. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/68 "2009-09-30T17:32:36Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > In what context exactly would a symbol be useful? Tombstones, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/69 "2009-09-30T17:57:29Z")
> [@Tortuga](#): > > [I have the invisible pink unicorn emblem on my car.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Pink_Unicorn) > I like it. > I haven’t been shouted at, and my car has not been keyed–compare that to my experience in San Diego, when a campaign sticker for Chris Kehoe (which used the rainbow flag background) was on my truck for no more than a half hour before being keyed–so I suppose that might mean as a symbol of atheism it is not terribly effective. Or something else. But I like it. The emblem is just fake chrome, not pink, and I bought it at [evolvefish.](http://evolvefish.com/fish/emblems.html) I’d venture to guess that part of this is that no-one knows what the blank it is. The IPU is pretty much unknown outside of the atheist geek netizen community. They probably think it’s just a unicorn. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/70 "2009-09-30T18:17:31Z")
“Badges?.. We don’t need no… stinkin’ badges!” Although I could get behind **akennett** ’s brain idea. ---
**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 30, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/71 "2009-09-30T21:31:29Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > I’m voting for the brain, because we actually use ours. [Disembodied brains have bad press](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiend_Without_a_Face). ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/72 "2009-09-30T23:15:07Z")
> [@Syntropy](#): > > [We have one](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&channel=s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&um=1&q=atheist+scarlet+a&sa=N&start=0&ndsp=18%5B/url). Love it. Somebody hold me back, I’m gonna get a tattoo! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/73 "2009-09-30T23:59:58Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > A lit candle in a dark, dark void. Very similar to what I came into say. Or a lamp. In addition to the saying (“Better to light one candle than to curse the dark”) it conveys warmth, light, and faith in human ingenuity, and the benevolent use of a potentially dangerous thing. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/74 "2009-10-01T00:19:30Z")
My suggestion would be the outline of a brain, and superimposed over it a switch turned to the ‘on’ position. Or the outline of a brain surrounded by a chain, broken. I’m not a graphic designer so I can’t even approximate how these should look, but perhaps someone with the appropriate skills could devise aesthetically pleasing versions. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/75 "2009-10-01T01:02:30Z")
You know, if you really want anyone besides atheists to acknowledge/use this “icon”, it would probably be best to not make it offensive to non-atheists. ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/76 "2009-10-01T02:39:15Z")
The only reason I’d like to have a symbol is because it allows atheists to be “out.” Others have religious symbols they can use to identify their beliefs to the world. Why shouldn’t we have one? It shows we’re not ashamed of our lack of belief. I’ve always liked the question mark as a symbol. Not necessarily because we’re unsure of ourselves, but because we’re not afraid to ask questions. Scary questions that a lot of religious people don’t like to think about. ---
**Author:** ![Baine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Baine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baine)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/77 "2009-10-01T03:45:30Z")
How about a series of turtles, standing on each others’ back, representing a never ending curiosity to find out what lies beneath things? Or how about Russell’s teapot? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/78 "2009-10-01T04:10:37Z")
> [@Baine](#): > > How about a series of turtles, standing on each others’ back, representing a never ending curiosity to find out what lies beneath things? But we already know what lies ‘beneath things’. It’s turtles; all the way down. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721/79 "2009-10-01T16:23:00Z")
> [@moonstarssun](#): > > I’ve always liked the question mark as a symbol. Not necessarily because we’re unsure of ourselves, but because we’re not afraid to ask questions. Scary questions that a lot of religious people don’t like to think about. Wouldn’t a question mark work better as a symbol for agnosticism? An atheist has already answered the big religious questions, in the negative. It’s true that some atheists have been led to their atheism through asking “scary questions,” but the same could be said of non-atheists as well. I think some atheists have the impression that _all_ faith is blind faith and that all believers are unquestioning believers—that religious people never question, never examine, never seek, never doubt, but just uncritically accept whatever they’ve been taught. This is the case with some but not, I assure you, with all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-best-icon-to-represent-athiesm/510721.md?page=3)