Are political symbols still making sense?

What do you do when creating a brand or building a country for that matter? Often it may makes sense to have a symbol represent your product, service, company or party. An apple is used as a symbol for both the Norwegian Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet) and Apple, something the latter liked so badly that there was a legal dispute over the trademarks. Both the Center Party (Senterpartiet) and a famous chocolate (Firkløver) have used the four-leaf clover, and both hope it will bring them happiness when people choose it. The Christian Democrats (KrF) uses a heart and The Red Party (Rødt) a star, thus using some of the symbols most popular with 6-year-olds and Facebook users. The Conservative Party (Høyre) has a pennant and immigration hostile party Democrats in Norway (Demokratene i Norge) have chosen a torch as their symbol (sic).

Old and new symbolic value

The Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) has managed to hold on to their symbolic red rose, although the party seems to suffer their thorns these days. About 500,000 roses will be handed out before this year’s election, but the recipients probably don’t know that roses have been a symbol of the labour movement since the late 1800s and are inspired by the slogan ‘bread and roses’, which means that one should have both something to live by and something to live for. The symbol in the party’s logo has been used for more than 40 years, and it has been debated whether it should be replaced. After the July 22 massacre in Oslo in 2011, the rose regained strength as a symbol.

The Norwegian Labour Party favours the rose as its symbol.

The colours of those who see things in black and white

Symbols frequently appear in politics elsewhere in the world as well, including countries that have much greater impact in the global arena than Norway. Trump’s red cap, with the inscription Make America Great Again, has a symbolic value that has stuck in people’s consciousness, whether you like it or not. But in Norway, a bright red cap would initially send the mind to the left of politics. It’s a small curiosity that the United States and Norway have a political colour coding that is diametrically opposed to each other. In Norway we think of the Republicans as right-wing, and therefore by definition a dark blue party, but as we know its colour is very much red. The party on the left side in the American political arena in USA is blue, whereas we Norwegians tend to think of this fraction as red. In other words, not all political colours are global. It can be very problematic, sometimes even dangerous, not to understand the symbols that exist in the countries you visit. Showing the shoe soles or showing the V-sign to the wrong people can have unfortunate consequences, because it symbolises something different to the recipient than the sender.

Trump’s signature cap is a favourite accessory for his followers.

But what exactly is a symbol?

Symbols were in their original form something that could be used for control or recognition . This was done by breaking a bone or a piece of wood into two parts, so that they could later be reassembled into a whole. According to Webster this was once a method that could confirm a person’s identity . Through detours, symbols eventually came to denote all objects and signs that was connected to an idea.

A symbolic expression that has existed for a four-digit number of years is the animal symbol. If one used a lion, this was a symbol of strength and courage. The ant was a symbol of diligence and work ethic, and so on. The more advanced we become as a species, the more and more diverse the symbols we use and become exposed to. It is also not the case that everyone reacts in the same way in the meeting with the same symbol. Just think about how differently we humans relate to everything from religious crosses to a middle finger pointing upwards and in our direction, to advertising, pictograms or traffic signs. Think of the 12 zodiac signs of astrology, which for some are almost comparable to a religion, but to others are just rubbish. Think of the symbols of all the world’s political parties, or football clubs, for that matter. Symbols are like visual or mental coat hangers where we can hang our strong opinions and personal thoughts.

High voltage symbolism

Sometimes it is vital that people recognise symbols. We realise that we should stay away when we come to a fence sign with the symbol for radioactivity. The lightning symbol warns us of electricity. In traffic, the roadsigns inform us what dangers may arise and what rules we must follow. These global and widely understood symbols probably save tens of thousands of human lives annually. And takes hundreds of lives if the symbolism is blurred or incorrect.

Symbols of good and bad

Often, symbols give us a shortcut to our emotions. Just think of how many people shudder when they see a Nazi swastika. Even people born long after World War II can become totally numb or cold when they see this symbol of human evil. The symbol itself is still banned in some countries, precisely because it is so to the degree associated with the atrocities of the Nazis. The fact that the symbol originally was positive for several ancient Asian cultures is drowning in the associations that emerged some 80-90 years ago. There is little God, happiness or sun left in that symbol, at least when looked upon with Western eyes. And, there is always a danger when evil forces are able to control the best designers and marketers.

Heavenly symbols

No place where people meet is as symbolic as the world of religion. Perhaps because believing lacks tangibility, it requires the use of objects and symbols that can support the supernatural, esoteric and intangible. Here you can find Maltese crosses, Greek Orthodox crosses, Cardinal crosses and Pope crosses, this only within different branches of Christianity. Whether it is Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, you have more than enough symbols to create an otherworldly aura. The Pope’s headdress, long beards, turbans, Kaba, Mandala, Torah, fasting, bread and wine, gold-plated deities, magical mosaic patterns, monk cuts, seven-armed candlesticks, chalices, prayer rugs, Buddha figures, mantras, chakras and thousands of deities of Hinduism. The symbols simply permeate the religions. Although these soul-searching crowds may have the most intimate relationship with symbols, there are more than enough symbols of a more worldly and down to earth nature.

There is an abundance of symbols in the world of religion.

Symbols as a carrier of brand identity

For a brand that has something to report and a desire to be understood, symbols used properly can be an effective way of communicating an identity. NIKE’s famous swoosh was eventually so well incorporated that they could completely remove their own company name, alternatively supplement it with the slogan JUST DO IT. The symbol signals speed, effort, sport and fashion and everything else that NIKE wants to be associated with comprised into one line. Shell does not need to write its name for us to associate correctly either. The apple of Apple quickly leads us to think of innovation and other things we associate with the company, and we do not confuse their apple with the one the Progress Party (FrP). And when we see the Twitter bird we instantly tweet in recognition.

Not all birds are equally popular. When two Norwegian municipalities – Moss and Rygge – now merge into one , the crow in the coat of arms in Moss must fly away and leave the space to a golden spore from an archaeological find that so far has symbolised Rygge. This is symbolic policy at the local level. Moss gets the name of the municipality. Rygge gets the symbol.

Take the oil and energy company Statoil. They have not only changed its name to Equinor, they have for some reason gone from showing a drop of oil in their logo to a symbol that at best looks like a very odd rose, one often associated with Norwegian knitting traditions. When it comes to Mission’s own symbolic efforts, we have amongst other things created a simplifiedsavings bank symbol for Eika, made a symbol that illustrates Talent Norway and made a ‘P’ for Pedagogstudentene that shows that they are an organisation with a heart.

Big symbols have become smaller

We’re getting used to having absolutely everything available on our smartphones and the internet. Our handheld friends guide us through life with everything from lists and recommendations and wake-up calls at the right time to managing the heat in our homes and in the car, all with a few keystrokes, from the other side of the globe, if necessary.

Find out more about the relationship between brand, logo and identity here.

A world of emoticons and app symbols to help us through the jungle of smart information has appeared, and everything must be adapted to mobile surfaces. My colleague, Espen Benoni, has written an article about this new branding simplification. When I open my own iPhone, I am greeted by 93 options on the first page. A maximum of nine apps per folder, and most of the icons on the screen are microscopic. Creating a symbol that you recognise on a square of just over 1 x 1 millimeter is a challenge, and for some players in this market, the small square symbol you need to click is just as important as the app’s name. Some tiny symbols are easier to decode than others. The Twitter bird lights up, the red N on a black bottom says Netflix and the colour of the purple Podcast symbol catches my attention.

So, these tiny symbols are perhaps the future for the world’s designers? And for opticians too, I should think.