10 familiar symbols but not everyone understands the meaning
1. 4 suits in a deck of cards
In a deck of cards (commonly known as Tu Le Kho) with 54 cards, of which 52 are normal cards, people are usually familiar with 4 suits: muscle, checkered, spade, and shrimp.
Everyone thinks that the body represents the cup, the checkered coin is the sword, the spade is the sword, and the shrimp is the stick. However, to this day, why these symbols are used on the cards remains an unsolved mystery.
The cards were imported to Europe from China. There could be these symbols placed according to social classes: nobles (tree), clerics (cup), merchants (coins), and military (swords).
2. Skull – crossbones
It is a fact that bones never decay after death, even if flesh and skin rot. Therefore, the skull-crossbones is not only a symbol of death, but also a symbol of eternal life and resurrection.
That is also why in Europe, this symbol can be seen on cemetery gates and also famous works of art in Europe.
However, this symbol appearing in the flags of pirates is a different story. The pirates did not have a common flag and the skull with two swords was considered the mark of the English pirate Edward. The skull and crossbones symbol was popularized by Robert Louis Stevenson, author of the book “Hidden Gold Island”.
3. Triquetra . symbol
The icon that appeared on the TV series “Charmed” 20 years ago is real. It’s called Triquetra. In Europe, during the Bronze Age, this symbol was used to mark the position of the Sun (sunrise, zenith and sunset) and also the phases of the moon. It also represents the cycles of nature. This symbol is popular in the Celtic and Scandinavian regions.
4. Play, pause, stop buttons
You can see these three icons on almost all music playback devices. But few people know about their origin. Some say it’s by artist Wassily Kandinsky. Others said it was Rain Wersem, the creator of one of the first cassette players.
Actually, there’s a reason why the stop button is square and the replay button is triangle. Squares represent stability, triangles represent momentum. The “pause” button evolved from a musical marker called “сaesura”, which was used to divide sections of a piece of music. The “record” button is red so no one accidentally presses it and deletes something important.
5. Red Cross
If you think that the symbol of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) resembles the Swiss flag, you are correct. The idea of founding an organization to help the sick and injured was born in Switzerland.
However, this symbol is not very well-supported. Specifically, the Muslim countries did not want to use the sign associated with Christianity, so a special symbol was created for them – the Red Crescent.
Israel doesn’t use any symbols, which is why they created another religiously neutral symbol – the red diamond.
6. Barber pole – symbol outside the hair salon
This symbol, which looks like a red, blue and white candy bar, is a symbol for hair salons in Europe, the US and some Asian countries.
In the past, every barber was also trained in medicine – at least this person could prick your blood or pull your teeth out. So red represents blood, and white represents bandages. It didn’t sound like a very interesting story so then they started adding blue.
7. Star of Life
This blue star is a symbol of America’s emergency medical assistance. You can also see it in some other countries.
Each of the six stars represents one of the functions of emergency medical assistance: detection, reporting, response, on-site care, in-hospital care, and hospitalization for intensive care. In the center, there is an image of Rod of Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine.
8. Jack-o’-lantern . Pumpkin Lantern
According to an Irish legend, there was a blacksmith named Jack who made a deal with the devil. After his death, his soul will not go to heaven or hell but will roam the world, using lanterns to light his way. The lantern is made from radish.
The Celtic people then lit lanterns on the window sills as a tradition to help the spirits of the dead find a place of atonement. Radishes are replaced by pumpkins because they look much more appealing.
9. Olympic symbol
The Olympic symbol is known for its colored rings representing the 5 continents: yellow for Asia, red for America, black for Africa, blue for Australia, and green for Europe.
But it turns out that the co-founder of the Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, didn’t think about the meaning of these colors at all. In fact, the meaning of the symbol is that you can use the colors of the rings that make up the flags of all countries and white as its background.
10. Hamsa’s hand
The Hamsa, also known as the Hand of Fatima, is a common symbol in Jewish and Arab cultures. Most likely, there is a connection between the Hamsa hand and the ancient mano pantea, found in ancient Rome and Egypt. This symbol later appeared in Christianity. It was transformed into a symbol of blessing and sign of blessing.
Source: Brightside
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