Atheism throughout history has, understandably, been a pretty private affair. In recent years, however, the rise of the atheist/agnostic “freethought” movement has brought active disbelief into the public arena, creating not just a camaraderie of unbelievers, but a sometimes actively anti-religious movement.
A number of atheist, pro-science, and related emblems have been proffered as symbols for nonbelievers, but none have any real consensus so far. I’ve compiled a brief, by no means exclusive list of some of the more popular emblems below.
Early symbols
One of the earliest symbols is not a symbol of disbelief per se. The Humanist movement’s “happy human,” designed by Denis Barrington in 1965 for the International Humanist and Ethical Union. The little figure symbolized the humanist philosophy of people over religious dogma, and while popular with atheists, is not an explicitly atheist symbol.
The earliest explicitly atheist symbol I’m aware of is the open-atom logo of the American Atheists, designed in the early sixties to place an emphasis on scientific curiosity and empirical thinking. While adopted early, it is not popular overall as it is trademarked by the organization.
The “evolve fish,” aka, the “Darwin fish,” a satirical jab at the ubiquitous “Jesus fish,” is one of several popular recent symbols:
The “invisible pink unicorn” symbol was intentionally designed as an atheist identification symbol. The image alludes to a common argument against belief, contained within the mathematical symbol for an ‘empty set.’ The first mention of the IPU appeared in the mid-nineties on Usenet, from author Steve Eley:
“Invisible Pink Unicorns are beings of great spiritual power. We know this because they are capable of being invisible and pink at the same time. Like all religions, the faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorn is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can’t see them.”
So far, the real contender has been the “flying spaghetti monster,” which began as a variation of the “IPU” argument, but proved irresistable once reports of “miraculous appearances” of the parody deity began to roll in. FSM merchandise is abundant, and includes car medallions, t-shirts, posters, and more.
Other noteworthy images include the atheist ” Scarlet A” symbol, designed by Richard Dawkins for the “OUT” campaign, which encourages Atheists to be more outspoken:
The circle/A emblem, somewhat resembling the Anarchist “A” symbol:
The empty set (circle/slash) with or without cross (aka the “Bad Religion” logo), ghost, or other object representing religion:
I any case, the issue is far from settled, at least as far as consensus goes. Some of the recent debates:
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
i understand rejecting organized religion, i can relate to that. but why identify yourself as believing in nothing? is that really something to be proud of?
The evolve fish and FSM logos both get my vote because they evoke a warm fuzzy gut laugh every time I see them.
And, though I know how boring it is to be subjected to reactionary comments on posts like the thatguywhoprobablywontrespond post, I have to anyway. So tgwpwr, who put it into your head that we identify ourselves with believing in nothing…and are proud of it? Are you reacting to the words non-belief, disbelief, and unbelief? If we believed in nothing…Wow…just the idea of it. Even the statement ‘I don’t believe’ obviously requires belief. Not believing in something and believing in nothing are really completely different things. Oh, never mind.
@ thatguythatprobablywontrespond: some people see it as a thing to be proud of because they believe that they have superior intellect, that they have higher knowledge because they know that there is no god etc. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, that’s just my opinion. You shouldn’t be proud of being a believer/or nonbeliever. Just like I don’t understand people that are proud to be a certain hair color or w/e. You’re BORN that way, you had no decision what you were going to look like; what you should be proud of are achievements you have, like graduating at the top of your class or something along those lines.
@yo yo chicka: I don’t think that religious belief or active religious rejection is something someone is “born” into. In fact, I know it’s not having experienced reversals in my own perspective. So that’s not really a fair comparison. Furthermore, symbols are useful for establishing your own identity as a person. Not everybody does it (not everybody feels the need), but there’s nothing arrogant about being open regarding your beliefs, likes, preferences, etc. Do you feel people are being overly “proud” for wearing band t-shirts or sports jerseys? There are also practical benefits such facilitating the process of meeting others with similar beliefs. Are churches being overly “proud” by displaying crosses? I think you are wrong to assume arrogance and animosity because somebody adorns themselves or their property with symbols they identify with. I don’t think there’s anything more mean-spirited about a Christian getting a cross tattoo or an atheist getting a “happy human” tattoo than there was when I got a my Star Wars tattoo.