Emblem
Emblem and symbol are often used interchangeably in day-to-day conversation without harm.A distinction may be considered unnecessarily fastidious. Nevertheless, an emblem is a pattern that is used to represent an idea. More specifically, an emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a moral truth or allegory. An emblem crystallizes in concrete, visual terms some abstraction: a deity, a tribe or nation, a virtue or a vice. An emblem is an object or a representation of a object. An emblem may be worn or otherwise used as identifying badge. A metal emblem of a cockle shell sewn onto the hat identied a medieval pilgrim to the shrine of Santiago_de_Compostela. In current American usage, a police officer's badge refers specifically to his/her personal metal emblem sometimes with a uniquely identifying number or name on it, while the woven emblems sewn on his/her uniform identify all the members of that particular unit.
The 1531 publication in Augsburg of the first emblem book, the Emblemata of the Italian jurist Andrea Alciato launched a fascination with emblems that lasted two centuries and touched most of the countries of western Europe. "Emblem" in this sense refers to a didactic or moralizing combination of picture and text intended to draw the reader into a self-reflective examination of his or her own life. Complicated associations of emblems could transmit information to the culturally informed viewer, a characteristic of the 16th century artistic movement called Mannerism.
A totem is specifically an animal emblem that expresses the spirit of a clan. A heraldic emblem is called a charge. The lion passant is the emblem of England, the lion rampant the emblem of Scotland.
A symbol substitutes one thing for another, in a less concrete fashion: the Christian cross is a symbol of sacrifice; it is an emblem of the Crucifixion. A red cross on a white flag is the emblem of the International Red Cross. The Red Cross is a symbol of the humanitarian spirit.
The Crescent shape is a symbol of the moon; it is an emblem of Islam. The Skull and crossbones is an emblem identifying a poison. The skull is a symbol of the transitory human life.
An icon is an image (originally a religious image), that has become standardized by convention. A logo is an impersonal, secular icon, usually of a corporate entity.
See also
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