What do the profession symbols mean?

QUESTION Robson Arcanjo Martins, Santa Barbara, MG

MEDICINE

The symbol is one of the oldest and originated in ancient Greece. The stick represents the tree of life and references Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, who had the ability to heal people. The serpent represents, at the same time, the poison and the antidote – in addition to being related to rebirth and renewal due to its ability to change its skin.

VETERINARY

Generally speaking, the symbols of the health professions are derived from the staff of Asclepius of medicine. With veterinarians it was no different. After a contest held by the Federal Council of Veterinary Medicine in 1994, the body made official the use of the image that inserts the famous stick and its snake inside a hexagon with the letter V

BIOLOGY

The biologists took great care in their creativity and created a symbol full of everyday concepts in the profession. The green leaves represent the study of nature, the DNA is a reference to all living beings and the sperm is the fertilization of life. The circle, which surrounds this whole context, is understood as the Earth itself, since the planet is the subject of study in biology.

PHARMACY

The cup is a reference to Hygia, daughter of Asclepius in Greek mythology. She also had the gift of healing and, when her father was killed, she became the goddess of health and received the serpent as a symbol of inherited power. It is believed that, in the same way that Hygia descends from Asclepius, pharmacy descends from medicine – and therefore the use of the representation of wisdom and healing

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

The Discus Thrower is a Greek statue made by the sculptor Myron in the year 450 BC. It represents the careful study of the moment when an athlete prepares to throw the discus. The piece was chosen as a symbol of the profession for “being based on the movements of the human body in action”

ENGINEERING

The Federal Council of Engineering and Agronomy uses a gear ring with the image of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and justice. She was known to encourage the more creative side of mortals, helping them put plans into action. This concept matches one of the principles of engineering: creation and execution

RIGHT

The scale was chosen to symbolize the balance between right and wrong. In many cultures, it is used in judgments. In ancient Egypt, the goddess of truth (Maat) weighed the soul at the time of a person’s death. Catholicism says that São Miguel Archangel holds a scale to decide the fate of the dead.

ADMINISTRATION

Until 1979, the sector still didn’t have a symbol to call its own. That’s when the Federal Board of Directors promoted a national contest to elect the icon. The explanation of the geometric shapes is simple: the central points represent the objectives and the lateral arrows, the goals of the profession.

PEDAGOGY

There is no official symbol. In Brazil, it is common to use the owl – an animal that, for the Greeks, is the holder of knowledge. However, there are professionals in the field who prefer to use the caduceus (moral balance and wisdom) over the fleur-de-lis (orientation) when graphing the profession

PSYCHOLOGY

The letter psi of the Greek alphabet is part of the word that gave rise to the name of the profession. There is no official interpretation, but there are those who argue that the trident would be the tripod of psychological theories: behaviorism, psychoanalysis and humanism. For Freudians, the three points would represent the id (unconscious), ego (preconscious) and super ego (conscious) triad.

PSYCHOPEDAGOGY

Created in 2009. The explanation is as complex as the design. The central circle would be the individual before having contact with knowledge. Each turn of the Moebüs Tape would represent a learning process. For professionals in the field, wisdom brings changes so visible that the blue circle ends up turning red at the end.

ARCHITECTURE

The compass and square are instruments of mathematical precision that are very common in the practice of architecture. It is from the use of these tools that the architect reaches the perfection of the forms in his work. However, the use of this symbol is not exclusive to the profession, since Freemasonry also stamps this figure in various representations.

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SOURCES Book The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbolsby Adele Nozedar, articles The Letter Psi as a Symbol of Psychologyby Claudio Drews, The Symbol of Medicineby Raimundo dos Santos Lopes, and websites of the Federal Council of Psychology, Federal Council of Engineering and Agronomy, Brazilian Association of Civil Engineers, Brazilian Association of Psychopedagogy, Federal Council of Pharmacy, Federal Council of Veterinary Medicine, Federal Council of Administration and Council Biology Regional