While on the subject of religious symbols. Though it’s usually associated with the Satan and satanic cults in modern times, it historically symbolizes the Cross of Saint Peter, who was said to ask to be crucified upside down because he wasn’t worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Saint_Peter
This Snopes article debunks the rumor that Chelsea Clinton wore an upside down cross. It was just an optical illusion because of the angle of the photo. She actually wears a Greek Cross with 4 equal length sides. Which also dismisses the + symbol as only meaning the mathematical plus.
It sure is. Outside of India, too, though (as far as I can tell) people are not idiots and are justifiably chary about spamming big fat swastikas in places like Germany.
Therefore, while educated people have heard of Nazis, you can’t say that anyone would assume a swastika on a Jain flag or Buddhist graveyard or used purely decoratively has anything to do with Naziism.
ETA maybe we should consider that educated people know what a Nazi banner looks like, as opposed to a simple swastika.
The OP specifies symbols that “an educated person” (not “reasonably intelligent”, my error) would universally recognize. IMO, “an educated person” wouldn’t see a Hindu swastika or Buddhist wan zi/manji and jump to the conclusion that it’s a Nazi swastika. Which with a little religious respect and research would quickly dismiss.
I think it was here on the Dope that a kid asked what the squished Japanese vending machine symbol meant. Most people under 20 never saw a floppy disk.
How about the international “emergency exit” sign of a stick figure running out a door? Even though it’s not used in the US it should be obvious what it means to any American.
I thought of a few that are probably universal: suit symbols on playing cards. Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. I realize that these aren’t the suits in every country’s playing cards, but I think they’re in widespread enough use that people everywhere will recognize them. Am I wrong?
Let’s define “an educated person”. It’s been clarified it to mean an adult. But what type/level of education is expected? What is their scope of interest? What is their experience outside their locality. Does the fact that yes don’t recognize Western-centric symbols mean they’re not educated?
As I’ve said above, if I didn’t buy things on the internet, I wouldn’t know or care what the Euro symbol or pound symbol meant. Everything I buy locally in the store or on Amazon is in U.S. dollars.
As far as road signs, with the possible exception of the Stop sign, if I didn’t drive, I probably wouldn’t recognize most traffic signs as they don’t pertain to me while walking or riding.
If I’ve never flown, why would I know what an airport sign means? I know what a plane is, and airports exist, but what does the sign mean? There’s an airport ahead? How far? And why should I care if someone else is driving?
I may know that a Latin cross is a Christian symbol, but what is a Christian? Maybe people just like the look of the cross? I know some non-Christians, usually Asian who wear crosses because they like the style.
Back in the 90’s, a popular Japanese singer was wearing a necklace with a sparkly F**K hanging from it in their CD photos. The group was known for their generally wholesome personalities and it was explained on the early internet forums that she said she just like the look of the letters without understanding that they meant.
Apart from representing themselves, do they communicate anything? My parents had traditional decks of cards with suits like batons and other weirdness. And that’s just in Europe.
I presume you mean a symbol as communicating something specific, not just as a representation of itself. A horse / octopus / rifle in silhouette is easily identifiable but its what that means or is trying to say when seen on a sign or as a graphic on its own. Beware of the octopus? Yummy octopus for sale? Mega-evil crime syndicate HQ parking?
That’s why I suggested an aeroplane symbol as indicating an airport. I’m happy to be wrong, but it seems fairly unambiguous for landlubbers what it is intended. Not so much because its crystal clear, but that there is a very limited palette of reasons to show planes other than the only place where they stand still.
But does the heart symbol stand for love in the Western sense everywhere? In every culture? I simply don’t know, but I doubt it. (though it might tend more and more towards this meaning by the spread of emojis)
Only if you think “an educated person” means “knows significantly more than the average adult who has an interest in history and will take time to look up a symbol every time they see it.”
If the question is redefined as looking for a symbol that adults who are highly educated will universally recognise, there probably isn’t a single symbol that fits. The OP has clarified that they simply meant adults.
When swastikas are scrawled on buildings I don’t generally think hmm, maybe they’re actually using an ancient symbol with deep meaning.
Almost every educated person who isn’t Hindu would see the Swastika as a Nazi symbol; that is its main use these days, unfortunately. However, like I said when I brought it up, within Hinduism the double meaning is well known, so it wouldn’t qualify as universal. So to be honest I’m not sure why you felt the need to snark and act superior.
No I did not, but I can see where you got that idea. I meant adults as opposed to children who are still being educated. However, not all adults would qualify as educated. There are still illiterates out there, for example. The adults don’t have to be “highly educated”, just have an adequate education for their society.
It would qualify as universal if pretty much everyone recognized it as a symbol with the same meaning or use. The fact that it may have other meanings only recognized by some people is irrelevant. If pretty much all Hindus (and other people) recognized the tilted swastika as meaning Naziism, then it’s a universal symbol.
Note that symbols don’t have to have a meaning. Some just are used to distinguish one thing from another. Playing card suit symbols fall into this category. I think they’d also qualify as universal, but I could be wrong.
I admit to being snarky at those, not you in particular who ignorantly* think that the swastika is STRICTLY a Nazi symbol. BTW, as I’ve stated above, it’s not just a Hindu symbol, it’s a Chinese and Japanese symbol, still used in Japan to signify Buddhist temples on Japanese maps.** I don’t think I’m in superior, I just see or hear something and seek out an answer rather than jumping to conclusions.
*After all, this thread is about fighting ignorance.
**The educated and uneducated ignorant who choose to remain ignorant win once again as Japan maps for foreign 2020 Olympic visitors will not have the traditional manji, but a pagoda to mark Buddhist temples.
I happen to know a little about manji because I’m Okinawan/Japanese and have been to Buddhist temples, but never associated it with the Nazi swastika. I think I once asked about was told what it really was. I forgot all about it until someone, I thought it was Madonna, but apparently not, wore a dress with the Hindu swastikas on it. Ignorant people, some educated yelled NAZI! until it was explained that it’s a Hindu religious symbol. And even then some insisted it shouldn’t be displayed. THAT’S TRUE IGNORANCE and religious insensitivity which is the point of my posts.
BTW, to be fair, I did post that I thought the the five pointed star on some Real ID U.S driver’s licenses was chillingly reminiscent of of the Star of David issued to Jews during WWII and was flamed hard for that. So, yes, MY paranoia and ignorance comes out sometimes. I still don’t like the idea of a star on my DL, and I hope Hawaii doesn’t use that symbol when I have to renew my license.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to move them. This is what I had in mind when I started the thread. I guess I didn’t explain it very well. However, maybe I can fix it up a bit.
Context is often critical to a symbol’s meaning, just as it is for those of words and other things. So a symbol with multiple meanings, that everyone recognizes with the same meaning in a typical context, it’s universal. So if everyone recognizes a + as a plus sign when it’s written in between two number, then it’s universal.
So if the tilted swastika scrawled on a wall is seen by everyone as Naziism, then it qualifies. Or if they recognize it in some other typical context (e.g. neo-Nazi literature). The Hindu/Buddhist meaning is obviously not so recognized, so it’s not universal.
Being anal. Number of Hindus worldwide 1.1 billion, 15% of the world population. Number of Buddhists 535 million, 7% of the world population. Total 22% of the world population. So probably more people know about the swastika/wan zi/manji as a religious symbol than those think if it a Nazi symbol. Again, not trying to be superior, just pointing out easily researched facts!
