# Swirl symbol in obituary **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 7, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788 "2011-03-07T16:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/1 "2011-03-07T16:11:02Z")
In yesterday’s Sunday Los Angeles Times, one of the obituaries had a strange symbol in it. It was a clockwise swirl. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the individual’s name, but he travelled a lot. The LA Times uses symbols such as a US flag for veterans, a badge for police and a cross for religious, but this one is new to me. Anyone have any idea what it stands for? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/2 "2011-03-07T17:10:44Z")
Link? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/3 "2011-03-07T17:17:39Z")
I don’t know if this will help but [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Veterans_Affairs_emblems_for_headstones_and_markers) are illustrations of all of the religious-type of emblems that the Department of Veterans Affairs permits to be placed on the headstones of dead servicemembers. Was it one of them? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/4 "2011-03-07T19:32:48Z")
Well, none of them seem to be describable as a “clockwise swirl”. Might it be [yin-yang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_yang) symbol? (Considering that the VA list includes several religions I have never heard of, I am a bit surprised this is not on their list. Are there no Taoists in America?) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/5 "2011-03-07T19:51:38Z")
[Celtic](http://nanuksigloocustomjewelry.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/celtic-symbolism-part-1-swirls/) swirl? ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/6 "2011-03-08T01:20:47Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I don’t know if this will help but [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Veterans_Affairs_emblems_for_headstones_and_markers) are illustrations of all of the religious-type of emblems that the Department of Veterans Affairs permits to be placed on the headstones of dead servicemembers. Was it one of them? Who decided atheists needed a logo too? That just plays into the whole fallacious atheism-is-a-religion-too routine. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/7 "2011-03-08T01:23:09Z")
Naruto Uzumaki died? [http://animeymanga.lacoctelera.net/myfiles/animeymanga/Naruto-Image-1.jpg?Expires=1300921200&Signature=KnMiFH~tX9-paDkyP8vgdYm0EGntHtPly9JlOupxzKLXp8iy-Mp4EqkET8Qhavm0af55f-4bkdKKkeU-5mUmryQjlk3sXrrEiJl2OdiqhBZK5r5D6ofsxQhRa1KE-6yJ3FrcaZFVDuugV-fycXI8oQNh0A7bM0dhT2Cg5gK7ys0\_&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJYN3LZI5CG46B7AA&Policy=eyJTdGF0ZW1lbnQiOlt7IlJlc291cmNlIjoiaHR0cDovL2QzZHM0b3k3ZzF3cnFxLmNsb3VkZnJvbnQubmV0L2FuaW1leW1hbmdhL215ZmlsZXMvTmFydXRvLUltYWdlLTEuanBnIiwiQ29uZGl0aW9uIjp7IkRhdGVMZXNzVGhhbiI6eyJBV1M6RXBvY2hUaW1lIjoxMzAwOTIxMjAwfX19XX0\_](http://animeymanga.lacoctelera.net/myfiles/animeymanga/Naruto-Image-1.jpg?Expires=1300921200&Signature=KnMiFH~tX9-paDkyP8vgdYm0EGntHtPly9JlOupxzKLXp8iy-Mp4EqkET8Qhavm0af55f-4bkdKKkeU-5mUmryQjlk3sXrrEiJl2OdiqhBZK5r5D6ofsxQhRa1KE-6yJ3FrcaZFVDuugV-fycXI8oQNh0A7bM0dhT2Cg5gK7ys0_&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJYN3LZI5CG46B7AA&Policy=eyJTdGF0ZW1lbnQiOlt7IlJlc291cmNlIjoiaHR0cDovL2QzZHM0b3k3ZzF3cnFxLmNsb3VkZnJvbnQubmV0L2FuaW1leW1hbmdhL215ZmlsZXMvTmFydXRvLUltYWdlLTEuanBnIiwiQ29uZGl0aW9uIjp7IkRhdGVMZXNzVGhhbiI6eyJBV1M6RXBvY2hUaW1lIjoxMzAwOTIxMjAwfX19XX0_) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/8 "2011-03-08T01:48:51Z")
I went to the LA Times and used their online ad service to start writing an obituary. Then I reached the part where I could add a graphic. It’s a [Circle of Life](http://i.imgur.com/QcmYT.png). Doesn’t exactly jump out at you as a “circle of life”, huh? Might help if it was an actual circle as opposed to the “Swirl of Life”. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/9 "2011-03-08T02:00:36Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > It’s a [Circle of Life](http://i.imgur.com/QcmYT.png). Doesn’t exactly jump out at you as a “circle of life”, huh? Might help if it was an actual circle as opposed to the “Swirl of Life”. Well, it is round, I guess. What’s the “100” for, by the way? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/10 "2011-03-08T02:12:06Z")
I’m guessing people who lived a century before perishing. That or the rare event where someone named Ben Franklin dies in the great Los Angeles area. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/11 "2011-03-08T02:15:07Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I went to the LA Times and used their online ad service to start writing an obituary. Then I reached the part where I could add a graphic. > > It’s a [Circle of Life](http://i.imgur.com/QcmYT.png). Doesn’t exactly jump out at you as a “circle of life”, huh? Might help if it was an actual circle as opposed to the “Swirl of Life”. The Lion King died?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/12 "2011-03-08T05:38:03Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Who decided atheists needed a logo too? That just plays into the whole fallacious atheism-is-a-religion-too routine. Because the families of atheists who died (and who were atheists themselves, in most cases) asked for a symbol, so that the gravestone wouldn’t be blank in the symbol area. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/13 "2011-03-08T05:45:59Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Because the families of atheists who died (and who were atheists themselves, in most cases) asked for a symbol, so that the gravestone wouldn’t be blank in the symbol area. More fitting would be the lay out the text so there \*is no \*symbol area. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/14 "2011-03-08T06:40:08Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > More fitting would be the lay out the text so there \*is no \*symbol area. My point exactly. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/15 "2011-03-08T16:35:29Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > My point exactly. Maybe, but the point is that even if you think that there should be no symbol for atheists, other atheists disagreed, and the VA decided to listen to them. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/16 "2011-03-08T16:58:24Z")
The [Make A Wish Foundation](http://www.wish.org/) also uses a clockwise swirl. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/17 "2011-03-08T17:07:29Z")
South of the equator, is the swirl shown anti-clockwise? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/18 "2011-03-08T17:40:19Z")
Where I work, a large metropolitan daily newspaper, we use this symbol, if the family requests it, to indicate an organ donor (hence circle of life). It has nothing to do with religion or headstones or group affiliations. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/19 "2011-03-08T17:53:06Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Where I work, a large metropolitan daily newspaper Perry White, editor ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788/20 "2011-03-08T18:07:16Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Who decided atheists needed a logo too? Apparently a fan of the Springfield Isotopes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swirl-symbol-in-obituary/573788.md?page=2)