Well-Known Symbols Whose Meaning We Knew Nothing About

Thousands of signals and symbols bombard us every day. When we can't find the perfect words, we utilize some of them to describe our deepest sentiments. Have you ever wondered where those symbols came from? And do we know how to use them properly?

1The Bluetooth Symbol

The Bluetooth Symbol


Denmark was governed by King Harald Bltand in the tenth century AD, a historical figure known for unifying Danish tribes into a unified nation. Harald was nicknamed as "Bluetooth" because he was a noted lover of blueberries and had a permanent blue tinge to at least one of his teeth.Bluetooth is a wireless technology that connects numerous devices into a single network. The sign for this technology is made up of two Scandinavian runes: "Hagall" (or "Hagalaz"), which is the Latin equivalent of the letter "H," and "Bjarkan," which is the Latin equivalent of the letter "B." The initials of Harald Bltand's name are formed by these two runes.A first-generation Bluetooth gadget, by the way, was blue and resembled - you got it - a tooth.

2The "Power On" Symbol

The "Power On" Symbol


Although the "power" (or "power on") sign may be seen on almost any gadget, few people are aware of its history.


Engineers utilized a binary system to represent individual switches as early as the 1940s, when 1 signified on and 0 meant off. In the decades thereafter, it has evolved into a symbol with a circle (zero) and a vertical line (one).

3The Medical Symbol

The Medical Symbol


Many people are unaware that the medical emblem (a staff with wings and two snakes) was selected by accident.


According to tradition, Hermes (Mercury in the Roman pantheon) wielded a magical staff known as the Caduceus, which resembled the current medical sign. The Caduceus had the ability to put an end to any fights and bring adversaries together, but it had nothing to do with medicine.

The basic reality is that US military physicians mistook the Caduceus for the Rod of Asclepius more than a century ago (which looked similar but had no wings and only one snake). The error is reasonable given that Asclepius is the Ancient Greek deity of healing and medicine. As a result, the sign has gained traction and is now associated with medical secrecy.

4The Heart Symbol

The Heart Symbol


Things are considerably more complicated in this situation. Despite the widespread notion that "love is in the heart," everyone understands that the form of a genuine human heart differs significantly from this symbolic depiction. The symbol's origins, however, are the subject of numerous hypotheses.

When two courting swans approach each other in the middle of a lake, their forms blend into a heart shape. Because swan pairings stay together for life, these birds are symbolic of love, loyalty, and devotion in many cultures across the world.

According to another theory, the heart symbol initially symbolized the female form. This hypothesis claims that the sign represents the form of a female pelvis. The Ancient Greeks were known to place a high value on this region of the female body, and they even built a shrine dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite.It was unusual because it was the world's sole temple dedicated to the worship of the buttocks. Yes, you read that correctly!

This sign is also said to symbolize the form of an ivy leaf, according to one interpretation. Ivy leaves were frequently shown on Greek vases in paintings of Dionysus, the deity of winemaking and patron of love.

5The Peace Symbol

The Peace Symbol


During protests against the use of nuclear weapons in 1958, the peace sign (also known as the Pacific) was created. The symbol is made up of the letters "N" and "D," which stand for "Nuclear Disarmament," and is a combination of semaphore signals for the letters "N" and "D."

The letter "N" is created by holding two flags in an inverted "V," and the letter "D" is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down in the semaphore alphabet. The shape of the peace symbol is formed by superimposing these two signs.