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A symbol can be a material object whose shape or origin is related, by nature or convention, to the thing it represents: for instance, the crucifix is the main symbol of Christianity, and the scepter is a traditional symbol of royal power.
A symbol can also be a more or less conventional image (i.e. an icon), or a detail of an image, or even a pattern or color: for example, the olive branch in heraldry represents peace, the halo is a conventional symbol of sainthood in Christian imagery, tartans are symbols of Scottish clans, and the color red is often used as a symbol for socialistFor information on mainstream political parties using the term "Socialist", see Social democracy and Democratic socialism For the governments of the USSR, the PRC, and others, see: Communist state Other variants of Socialism include Marxism, Communism, an movements, especially communismThis article is about communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, and as a popular movement. For issues regarding the organization of the communist movement, see the Communist party article. For issues regarding one-par.
More often, a symbol is a conventional written or printed signSign can denote any of the following: Within a writing system, a sign is a basic unit. Similar terms which are more specific are character, letter or grapheme. Signs are the basic units of semiotics, which is the systematic study of signs''. In linguistic (specifically, a glyphA glyph is a carved figure or character, incised or in relief; a carved pictograph; hence, a pictograph representing a form originally adopted for sculpture, whether carved or painted. Augustan English scholars of the early 18th century, imitating French), usually standing for anything other than a sound (symbols for sounds are usually called graphemeA grapheme designates the atomic unit in written language. Graphemes include letters, Chinese ideograms, numerals, punctuation marks, and other symbols. In a phonological orthography a grapheme corresponds to one phoneme. In spelling systems that are non-s, letters, logogramA logogram or logograph is a single written character which represents a complete grammatical word. Most Chinese characters are classified as logograms. A good example of modern western logograms are the numbers 1 stands for one 2 for two and so on; the as, diacriticA diacritic mark or accent mark is an additional mark added to a basic letter. The word derives from Greek , distinguishing and diacritical is used to mean distinguishing or distinctive. The mark can be added over, under, or through the letter. But not als, etc.). Thus mathematical symbols such as π and + represent quantities and operations, currency symbols represent monetary units, chemical symbols represent elements, and so forth.
Symbols can also be immaterial entities like sounds, words and gestures. The ringing of gongs and bells, and the banging of a judge's gavel , often have conventional meanings in certain contexts; and bowing is a common way to indicate respect. In fact, every word in a natural language is a symbol for some concept or relationship between concepts.
A symbol is usually recognized only within some specific culture, religion, or discipline, but a few hundred symbols are now recognized internationally. See list of common symbols and List of symbols.