A List of Poly Symbols

Please do not assume that these images are public domain unless so specified!
I do not want to commit, aid or abet copyright infringement.

Also, I am aware that several of the links below (especially Jette's) are currently broken. If you are aware of correct new addresses for any of these missing sites, please let me know.

Here we go . . .

variations on Parrots

The origin of using parrots to represent polyamory is fairly obvious: "Polly wanna cracker?" I have not been able to trace who first came up with the idea, though; the first entry below is the earliest reference I have. I imagine that it was generated independently by many different people. Current versions include:

1. In a piece of E-mail that I received on June 12th, 1998, Ray Dillinger says that he created this parrot sometime during the first half of 1997. He calls the image the "Parrot Club Mascot," and says that he created the image specifically for use on poly sites. The image is public domain.
2. The word "poly" as a parrot. This design was made by Kathy Smith of Triad Ventures, a company that makes poly T-shirts. There are also more links to other images on this site in the next section below.
3. A woman named Jette has created a bold, brightly colored parrot with a heart-and-infinity in its claws, plus some other parrot images. There are also other images on this site mentioned in the sections below; all her images are public domain.
4. A while ago, MacDaddy had a (non-poly) site devoted to background images for Web pages. I loved this site, and many people that I know linked to it, or at least raided it for goodies. It has since disappeared, and no one I know can find it. (MacDaddy, call your office.) Among his vast collection was a parrots image. Luckily I copied it before the Great Vanishing. All of his images are public domain; he requested that you link to his site if you use one of his images, but obviously that is a tad difficult right now.
5. If you really want an extremely, ahem, wide variety of choices in your parrot pictures, there are apparently several Webrings out there devoted exclusively to parrots. Here's one. More can be found by going to Webring Central and searching for "parrots" in their directory.

variations on Heart-and-infinity

1. First, the original heart-and-infinity, which is in the public domain. Many variations were made on it almost immediately; too many for me to list them all here.
2. A version where the infinity symbol is unbroken. I have it direct from the author of this one that it is also public domain.
3. This site has a smaller copy of the previous one.
4. This site contains three different multi-heart symbols with infinity, including the very attractive one I placed at the top of my main poly page, plus a graphic of three linked hearts. The image at the top of my main poly page is also currently being used by the Poly Ring as part of its graphics.
5. I gather from reading their pages that this version of a funky new red and white idea from Triad Ventures is an "early draft." A more sedate but very pleasing later version was used on Triad Ventures' shirt for alt.polycon III. A link to Triad Ventures' parrot design is given in the previous section above.
6. If you are looking for a 3-D rendition of the heart-and-infinity, the gorgeous one appearing at the top of this page is by Jette. Other designs at her site are mentioned in other sections on this list; all her images are public domain.
7. This site has a very attractive version of the heart-and-infinity done using dragons!

variations on Pi-and-the-three-colors

1. The symbol that started this category, Jim Evans' Poly Pride Flag. He has put this image in the public domain.
2. The PAARC ribbon (also with variations, including button graphics).
3. The ILIC symbol. "ILIC" stands for Infinite Love in Infinite Combinations (a reference to Star Trek's IDIC credo --- the D in the Star Trek version stands for "Diversity").
      When I first listed this symbol, I did not have a copy of this image archived locally (even though the author said on his site that the symbol was public domain), and I was left holding air when his whole site up and disappeared. Then later a reader let me know that the ILIC graphic could be found at www.loveplay.com. I wrote to the folks there to see whether they had altered the image in any way, or whether this was the original. They did not respond. However, it looks like the original ILIC as far as I can remember.
4. Jette also has a flag that's a variation on Jim Evans' pride flag; all her images are public domain.

miscellaneous

1. A very artistic rendering of three men in a circle.
2. The combination of symbols formerly used by the Poly Ring. To see the graphics that this Webring is currently using, either go to the hub of the Poly Ring, or go to my main poly page and scroll down towards the bottom.
3. There are other Webrings out there concerning polyamory besides the one mentioned in the previous entry. (All of the ones that I have seen are smaller than the Poly Ring, and many are more geographically localized.) While I have certainly not been to every site on every ring, more poly symbols and imagery might well be found there. The various polyamory rings can be found by going to Webring Central and searching for "polyamory" in their directory.
4. By now perhaps you have figured out that Jette has many poly symbols on her site. In addition to the ones above, she also has linked hearts of various types. As I have said above, all her images are public domain.
5. Here's a twist I did not expect: the parrotfish.
6. This symbol partakes of both "hearts and infinities" and "color schemes and pi," yet it does not feel to me like it belongs in either of the above categories. You decide.
7. From the Polyamory Society, we have this band, intended as a symbol of commitment.

(Last updated 5/11/02002)