Order, profession, cult?

January 7, 2025 3:40 PM

Can you identify this symbol on this ring? The ring itself is intriguingly small.
posted by Iteki to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

Is there anything on the sides?
I see a Caduceus, triangle, and gear, I think.
Maybe a medic in the military in a specific squadron?
Any other clues on it? Where did it come from?
posted by beccaj at 3:50 PM on January 7

There’s a dentistry symbol that’s similar — an intertwined triangle and circle surrounding a staff of Caduceus with little branches of leaves that look like wings (but aren’t; they’re branches with their own coded meaning relating to the number of teeth).

…not exactly this pattern but similar, so a medical organization or fraternity/society might be places to look.
posted by aramaic at 3:51 PM on January 7

Well, that's a caduceus (the staff with the snakes and wings) typically used to signify medical professions. The triangle and circle could be representing delta and omega, this representation is often seen in dentistry.
posted by ApathyGirl at 3:51 PM on January 7

That is fascinating. You've got a caduceus, the staff of Hermes, which has long been a symbol of messengers, although it's frequently confused with the Rod of Asclepius which symbolizes medicine. There's a circle with eight protrusions around the rim, which to me suggests a gear or possibly a ship's wheel. And finally there's a triangle or delta, which isn't a perfect right triangle but may have been intended as one, in which case it may represent a carpenter's square.

I'm certain it represents an organization of some sort, whether professional (such as dentistry, as noted above) or something more secretive.
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:57 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]

A lot of similar designs are coming up as being German / WW2 connected, or as being replicas of.

I also found this - no idea what it is, intend to do some more looking - but it's the closest thing I've found so far.

Edit to add: The same words are listed here as being a social club in Billdal, Gothenburg, Sweden.

And a Dun & Bradstreet listing which suggests the same.

But I'm not finding more than that, so far.
posted by stormyteal at 4:08 PM on January 7 [4 favorites]

Nice find Stormyteal.
Looks like it's for a Swedish engineering group.
That's a start for sure.
posted by beccaj at 4:14 PM on January 7

Even more interesting, the address that both of those show do not have a building at that location.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2fMaARt6CgByQ3rt7
https://www.yelp.com/map/ingenj%C3%B6rsf%C3%B6reningen-tgg-billdal
posted by stormyteal at 4:15 PM on January 7

I'm also seeing some search results related to biomedical engineering. Not the entire design on the ring, but the caduceus and gear design, for sure.
posted by xedrik at 4:59 PM on January 7

I don't know anything about the ring but I can perhaps provide some context (most links in Swedish, followed by links to machine translation):

stormyteal found the facebook page of Ingenjörsföreningen TGG, which translates to “TGG engineer's society”.

TGG is Tekniska Gymnasiet i Göteborg, one of the previous names (English) for the secondary education instititute that is today known as Polhemsgymnasiet (English). It is a part of the historical institution (English) that developed into the Chalmers University of Technology.

Engineer's rings are sometimes worn in Sweden by people who have an engineering degree. However these rings typically have a different design so my best guess would be that this is simply a ring worn by members of Ingenjörsföreningen TGG.
posted by Signy at 4:26 AM on January 8 [2 favorites]