What does this symbol mean?

April 13, 2007 12:12 PM

Picture this: three squares arranged in a triangular formation... one on top, two on the bottom. Does it have any symbolic meaning? Is it a company logo?

I ask this because I'm getting a tattoo saturday that means something to me but before I do, I want to make sure it doesn't also have some negative meaning to other people... like some symbol for being a nazi, or even the corporate logo for some strange company... because that would suck.

posted by hummercash to grab bag (14 comments total)

Depending on the orientatino of the squares, it might resemble the Mitsubishi logo.
posted by googly at 12:23 PM on April 13, 2007

Motion Graphics studio Shilo has a pretty similar logo.
Full disclaimer, I freelance for them.
posted by nathancaswell at 12:29 PM on April 13, 2007

something like this is what i had in mind... im gonna play around with the design a but this is the general layout...
posted by hummercash at 12:31 PM on April 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

doh, Here is the pic
posted by hummercash at 12:32 PM on April 13, 2007

It's a word in Japanese (and probably Chinese).
posted by mr_roboto at 12:55 PM on April 13, 2007

Yes, this is the logo for a company. I went cross country skiing this winter and I recall seeing it on the skis. I can't find the name.

However, don't be discouraged because this is such a malleable symbol that you're basically appropriating it for personal meaning. It's like getting a tattoo of a circle or a square.
posted by quadog at 1:15 PM on April 13, 2007

I wouldn't get discouraged by stuff that is already in use for something else. Nobody has your tattoo with your meaning. You are making it your own. Happy inking!

(but always a good idea to do your "market research")
posted by iamkimiam at 1:27 PM on April 13, 2007

I think Quadog is thinking of Fischer skis - it was my first thought too... then I googled it
posted by Flashman at 1:38 PM on April 13, 2007

thanks everyone... im not too worried about some company having something like to for their logo... i was more worried about it being associated with some awful organization or hate group.
posted by hummercash at 1:38 PM on April 13, 2007

It's a nice symbol btw. I'm not a huge fan of tattoos but I like odd, enigmatic things like that. But I think the risk of it appearing so 'symbolic' (almost like a brand) is that people might mistake it for a mark of membership in some sort of clan or organization...
posted by Flashman at 1:44 PM on April 13, 2007

It's also the set of contraction mappings that make up the IFS leading to the Sierpinski Gasket. I just taught that in my college geometry class and now I get to tell my class someone is getting it in tattoo form. Awesome.
posted by monkeymadness at 2:24 PM on April 13, 2007

It's probably this character:
http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=54C1
posted by Sangermaine at 2:31 PM on April 13, 2007

The character in Chinese is pĭn 品，which has positive associations; in the human context it appears in words related to taste, morality and character. I'd say no worries on that score.
To me it also sounds reminiscent of some of the eternity knots you see in Tibetan iconography, and that's no bad thing either.
posted by Abiezer at 2:46 PM on April 13, 2007

To me, it says "org chart".
posted by flabdablet at 9:46 PM on April 13, 2007