Decode the 7 familiar symbols but few people know about their mysterious origins

Every day we can see and use thousands of different characters and symbols, but not all of us have questions and learn about them. In fact, the meaning and origin of these familiar symbols remains a mystery to most people. Sometimes, we can use some of these symbols to express our strong emotions when we can't find the words that match. And is there ever a time when you think about whether you used the icons correctly?

The Bright Side page has investigated these questions in detail and decoded the 7 familiar symbols but few knew about their mysterious roots below. Invite you to consult!

Icon Ampersand (&)

The symbol Ampersand ( & ) symbolizes the " et " in Latin and the word " and " in English, meaning " and ". The symbol of this belt was first invented in ancient Rome by Tiro, the personal secretary of Roman political theorist Cicero. To speed up writing, Tiro invented an abbreviation system called "Shorthand Tironian Notes" .

After centuries, the Ampersand ( & ) symbol has become popular in the US and Europe, and it has been honored to be in the English alphabet for a long time. It was not until the early 20th century that this symbol was omitted. In fact, the word " ampersand " is a shortened form of the phrase " And per se and ", often read by the last teacher after reading the alphabet, from " A " to " Z ".

After a while, the letters " E" and " T " are merged to become the symbol we use today.

Heart symbol

© amazonaws © biobiochile

In this case, even things are simpler. Subconsciously everyone " love is in the heart ", but everyone knows the shape of human heart is not really like the heart symbol. There are several theories about the origin of this symbol:

1. It is assumed that the origin of the heart symbol is related to swans . When swans meet in the middle of the lake, their bodies blend together like a heart symbol. Moreover, in many different cultures around the world, swans are considered to represent love, loyalty and dedication, because they are always together for life.
2. However, there are other assumptions that, at first, the heart symbol represents the woman's pelvic shape. Proponents of this theory believe that this symbol resembles a woman's pelvis shape. The pelvic part is so special to the ancient Greeks that they built a separate temple for the goddess Aphrodite - the god of love, beauty, birth and desire. It is the only temple in the world that was created to worship the ass.
3. In addition, this symbol also symbolizes the shape of ivy leaves . On the Greek vase, ivy leaves are often depicted to describe Dionysus - the god of wine in Greek mythology.

Bluetooth icon

In the 10th century, Denmark was ruled by King Harald Blåtand - a famous historical figure who had the merit of combining Danish tribes into a united kingdom. Harald is often called " Bluetooth " ( roughly translated as "Green Teeth" ) because he loves blueberry peaches and in his teeth there is at least one blue tooth.

Today, Bluetooth technology is designed to combine with the purpose of integrating multiple devices into a single network. The symbol of this new technology is a combination of two mystical signs of Scandinavian people: " Hagall " ( or "Hagalaz" ) and " Bjarkan ", similar to the " H " and " B " in Latin. These two letters form the abbreviation of King Harald Blåtand. Besides, the first generation Bluetooth device also uses blue color like the color of the king's teeth to color the symbol.

Medical symbol

© Craig Moe

Surely no one can expect the medical symbol ( a winged stick and two snakes wrapped around ) originally born due to negligence, right?

According to legend, Greek god Hermes ( the Romans often called Mecury ) possessed a magic stick called Caduceus, which looked like a modern medical symbol. Caduceus sticks have the ability to prevent disputes and can reconcile enemies, but this stick has no relation to medicine.

The unexpected truth was finally revealed. About a hundred years ago, US military doctors confused the Caduceus with the stick of Asclepius because the two sticks looked the same but the stick of Asclepius had no wings and only one snake. The ancient Greek god Asclepius was a specialist in healing and teaching medicine to talented people, so this mistake could be understood. Since then, this symbol has been used to symbolize Medicine until now.

Icon "Power on" button

© techblogout

Power icons (roughly translated as " source" or "startup" ) can be easily found on most electronic devices, but in fact very few people know about its origin.

From the 1940s, engineers used binary systems to display on switches, in which 1 meant turning on and 0 means turning off. In the following decades, it was turned into a circle symbol representing a zero and a vertical line representing number 1.

Peace symbol

© ljplus

The peace symbol (in the English " peace " also has the word " Pacific " also means peace) was invented in 1958 in opposition to the use of nuclear weapons. This symbol is a combination of signals used in the railway industry that are " N " and " D " stands for " Nuclear Disarmament ", which means " Disarm nuclear " in the semaphore system.

The semaphore system is a type of communication, using hand flags as a means of transmitting signals. In it, the "N" is represented by two opposite " V " flags and the " D " is represented by a flag pointing to the sky and a flag pointing to the ground. When putting these two symbols on top of each other, a peace symbol will be created.

Symbol "OK"

© jo-jo

According to most Americans, the gesture of the index finger touching the thumb forms the letter O which means " OK - Okay " or " All right - I'm fine ". However, not every country has a positive meaning in this gesture. Typically in France, the symbol " OK " represents the number 0 which means nothing. There are many hypotheses given when talking about the origin of this famous symbol:

1. Many people believe that the " OK " symbol was originally an abbreviation for " Old Kinderhook, NY " - the home of the second US President - Martin Van Buren. Therefore, Van Buren's slogan in the campaign campaign is Old Kinderhook, short for OK. Since then, the posters all have the appearance of a person with an OK gesture. Many believe, OK is the alias of President Van Buren.
2. There is another theory saying that the OK symbol originated from the US 7th President - Andrew Jackson, who used this symbol when making his decisions when writing " All correct " ( roughly translated: "All correct ") all reasonable " ). This sentence in German is " Oll correrect ", abbreviated as OK.
3. Another theory is that this ancient " OK " symbol symbolizes craft - a ritual gesture in Buddhism and Hinduism. This sign represents learning and many Buddhist art works depicting the Buddha using this movement.

Refer to some more articles:

1. The mysterious message behind 15 world-famous brand logos that few people know about
2. Elon Musk explains the true meaning of the Tesla logo
3. Where did the origins of the male and female symbols come from?

Having fun!