Symbols
Gamma Phi Beta's symbol is the crescent moon and the flower is the pink carnation. The carnation was named the official flower at Convention 1888. Pink was designated the official color of the carnation in 1950. Carnations have been revered for more than 2,000 years as one of the most longlasting flowers. Many varieties produce a clove-like scent, and the aroma is said to be both uplifting and motivating. The legend of pink carnations says they first appeared on earth from the Virgin Mary’s tears – making them the symbol of a mother’s undying love.
The Gamma Phi Beta badge has not significantly changed since its design in 1874. It was designed by Tiffany & Co. It features a black crescent moon cradling the Greek letters, Gamma, Phi and Beta. Badges are currently produced by jeweler Herff Jones with options for gold or silver, jeweled or not.
The badges worn by International Council members are larger and feature white crescent moons instead of black. The international president's badge is set with diamonds on the Greek letters; other international officer's badges are set with pearls. In 1902, a badge for uninitiated members was approved (a triangular-shaped shield of dark brown on which rests a crescent of yellow).
The official colors of Gamma Phi Beta are brown and mode (dark and light brown). Mode means "the style of the day." Brown and pink are now in widespread use in Sorority branding and marketing materials.
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Famous quotes containing the word symbols:
“The twentieth-century artist who uses symbols is alienated because the system of symbols is a private one. After you have dealt with the symbols you are still private, you are still lonely, because you are not sure anyone will understand it except yourself. The ransom of privacy is that you are alone.”
—Louise Bourgeois (b. 1911)
“The use of symbols has a certain power of emancipation and exhilaration for all men. We seem to be touched by a wand, which makes us dance and run about happily, like children. We are like persons who come out of a cave or cellar into the open air. This is the effect on us of tropes, fables, oracles, and all poetic forms. Poets are thus liberating gods.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I do not deny that there may be other well-founded causes for the hatred which various classes feel toward politicians, but the main one seems to me that politicians are symbols of the fact that every class must take every other class into account.”
—José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955)