I already worked on a project like this previously:
Flag utilitarianism
Yellow stands for happiness, that which utilitarianism pursues
White stands for morality, that which utilitarianism is
The symbol is a sigma, since utilitarians care about the sum of all utility
The symbol is also an hourglass, since utilitarians care about the (longterm) future consequences
If you don’t like the rounded design I can also make it more angular:
The size of the symbol, the angles, the proportions of the flags etc can all be changed if you have specific preferences. The main idea is the sigma that also functions as an hourglass.
I do however worry whether it’s wise to make symbols for philosophical ideas. I like designing these things, but you run the risk that these symbols can be used to make people strongly identify themselves with these ideas, instead of them being things that people can dispassionately examine and perhaps reject. I would advise everyone to say things like: “I like utilitarianism” or “I believe in utilitarianism”, instead of “I am a utilitarian”. Let’s make sure ethical ideas don’t become as rigidly polarized as political ideas.
EDIT: If you want to redesign this flag, go right ahead! I’m planning to donate the prize money if I win, so if you improve on my design and also donate the prize money, that would actually make me very happy.
I like this design, but it violates the rule of tincture: the heraldic metals—yellow (or) and white (argent) - should not be placed on each other because they don’t contrast enough. So does the original five-star design. I would use a different background color, like light blue.
I want to mention that I like the rounded version a lot, and the angular version is better than the current ‘weird 5 stars’ but not quite as neat. I think the fact that the angular version looks almost exactly like a capital sigma is what throws me off (sigma means a lot of stuff).
I definitely sympathize with the argument against having a symbol for an idea. Both the good and the bad of symbolization is that it leads to identification.
I already worked on a project like this previously:
Yellow stands for happiness, that which utilitarianism pursues
White stands for morality, that which utilitarianism is
The symbol is a sigma, since utilitarians care about the sum of all utility
The symbol is also an hourglass, since utilitarians care about the (longterm) future consequences
If you don’t like the rounded design I can also make it more angular:
The size of the symbol, the angles, the proportions of the flags etc can all be changed if you have specific preferences. The main idea is the sigma that also functions as an hourglass.
I do however worry whether it’s wise to make symbols for philosophical ideas. I like designing these things, but you run the risk that these symbols can be used to make people strongly identify themselves with these ideas, instead of them being things that people can dispassionately examine and perhaps reject. I would advise everyone to say things like: “I like utilitarianism” or “I believe in utilitarianism”, instead of “I am a utilitarian”. Let’s make sure ethical ideas don’t become as rigidly polarized as political ideas.
EDIT: If you want to redesign this flag, go right ahead! I’m planning to donate the prize money if I win, so if you improve on my design and also donate the prize money, that would actually make me very happy.
I like this design, but it violates the rule of tincture: the heraldic metals—yellow (or) and white (argent) - should not be placed on each other because they don’t contrast enough. So does the original five-star design. I would use a different background color, like light blue.
I want to mention that I like the rounded version a lot, and the angular version is better than the current ‘weird 5 stars’ but not quite as neat. I think the fact that the angular version looks almost exactly like a capital sigma is what throws me off (sigma means a lot of stuff).
I definitely sympathize with the argument against having a symbol for an idea. Both the good and the bad of symbolization is that it leads to identification.