universal symbols
Everywhere-understood signs
Universal symbols are images, signs, or concepts understood across cultures without explanation—a skull meaning death, a heart meaning love, an arrow meaning direction.
The term appears in psychology, mythology, and design, though how truly universal any symbol is remains debated.
Some symbols achieve near-universality through biological instinct (a bared-teeth grimace as threat), others through global spread of particular traditions.
- Star of DavidJewish religious emblem
- doveGentle cooing bird
- crossPass from side to side
- red crossScarlet-colored perpendicular marking
- moonNatural planetary satellite
heart · mandala · sacred geometry · tree of life · ouroboros · sun · infinity sign · yin-yang · scales of justice · lotus flower · crescent moon · ankh · labyrinth · all-seeing eye · olive branch · peace sign · white flag · thunderbolt
- visual symbolspictograms, pictographs, symbols, glyphs, ideograms
- cultural artfolk art, indigenous art, tribal art, cultural artifacts, traditional crafts
universal symbolsoccult symbols
Signs with hidden meanings
cryptic symbols · secret codes · jargon · coded language · cipher