Symbolism question

[Kodemunkey]

I'm working on a sci fi story, where one of the major players in it is an organisation called the "Foundation of Peace and Brotherhood". They started in the aftermath of the Black Death in Europe. I've been wondering what sort of symbols they would use?

I've gotten as far as a laurel wreath for the outside, but im unsure what to say is on the inside portion? I was thinking of a hand reaching down to another hand, but i'm not certain if that would work.

*i forgot to mention, they're a humanitarian organisation, operating on a "Help me to help you" concept

Any ideas?

[FootstepsBeckon]

with a question like this the real answer is research- make sure you map your points down on paper- the main features of this organisation. For example they're humanitarian, do you want them to be heavily religious? The Black Death was a time when the people caught in the thick of it genuinely thought the world was ending; piles of corpses, bird-faced doctors and families dropping in heavy numbers. What would an organisation need to represent in a symbol to show a different time from all this misery?


I hope that helps,

Will

[TinyBird]

Well, you could have almost anything, but if the organization got started after/because of the Black Death, the something related to beating that (for example, angel winning over skulls/skeleton/grim reaper/holding an hourglass etc etc symbols related to that) could make a bridge to it. Like someone made a symbol for the thing in the middle ages, and then it got stylized and simplified more over time. Looking through the history of Starbucks logo would show this: http://www.deadprogrammer.com/starbucks-logo-mermaid/
Studying existing logos might give ideas too, here's a couple:

[arenhaus]

TinyBird has it spot on. To make up symbols for a fictional organization with a long history, it pays to not only think about its goals and methods (and the image it projects, which may or may not be true to its real agenda) and its own history, but also about the history of its symbols. They might have started with one and ended up with an entirely different one, updating it as it went. Or they might have started with something and kept it forever, so they are still using something very medieval. Or perhaps they rely on a blazon (e.g. "a cross wound around with leafy vine without grapes, clockwise") which may be rendered in any style. Or they might have started without one and then acquired one late in their history, which then evolved and was modernized - or stagnated so it is now, for example, in Art Nouveau style despite the organization being much older. Or they might have begun as one organization and then gone through several successions of offshoots replacing the original core going extinct, and so the logo kept being replaced with the successors' - derived from the original or not. They might have a set of symbols - both a public logo and some clandestine symbolism which may or may not be used in public. Or they might now use multiple cover organizations with their individual logos, sharing a theme or a motif or not. And so on.

Thinking about history of something you are making up is one of the best things to give it depth and plausibility.

[Elwell]

Looks like you need this: