Symbols
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different concepts and experiences.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol
Heinrich Zimmer gives a concise overview of the nature, and perennial relevance, of symbols.
"Concepts and words are symbols, just as visions, rituals, and images are; so too are the manners and customs of daily life. Through all of these a transcendent reality is mirrored. They are so many metaphors reflecting and implying something which, though thus variously expressed, is ineffable, though thus rendered multiform, remains inscrutable. Symbols hold the mind to truth but are not themselves the truth, hence it is delusory to borrow them. Each civilization, every age, must bring forth its own."
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol
Heinrich Zimmer gives a concise overview of the nature, and perennial relevance, of symbols.
"Concepts and words are symbols, just as visions, rituals, and images are; so too are the manners and customs of daily life. Through all of these a transcendent reality is mirrored. They are so many metaphors reflecting and implying something which, though thus variously expressed, is ineffable, though thus rendered multiform, remains inscrutable. Symbols hold the mind to truth but are not themselves the truth, hence it is delusory to borrow them. Each civilization, every age, must bring forth its own."
Icons
(1) A representative picture or image:
If something is iconic, it represents something else in a conventionalized way, as with features on a map (roads, bridges, etc.) or onomatopoeic words (as for example the words kersplat and kapow in U.S. comic books, standing for the impact of a fall and a blow).
(Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language, 1992)(2) A person who is the object of great attention or devotion.
(3) An enduring symbol.
Iconography refers to the images collectively associated with a person or thing or to the study of images in the visual arts.
If something is iconic, it represents something else in a conventionalized way, as with features on a map (roads, bridges, etc.) or onomatopoeic words (as for example the words kersplat and kapow in U.S. comic books, standing for the impact of a fall and a blow).
(Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language, 1992)(2) A person who is the object of great attention or devotion.
(3) An enduring symbol.
Iconography refers to the images collectively associated with a person or thing or to the study of images in the visual arts.
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