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Nil illegitimi carborundum : Don’t let the bastards grind you down
08/15/08
Thoughts about the UUA’s Chalice Logo
You know, as I just purchased my new lesbian necklace from Heaven Sent Me, I thought that it would be a nice idea to see about getting a UU chalice necklace as well. I took to the web and found zilch in the way of affordable chalice necklaces and jewelry. I searched eBay and I found absolutely nothing that I would find attractive. I searched Google and I found posts about the UUA’s logo. And that, my friends, is where we are going to start our post today. The discovery of the time when the UUA decided to change their logo to the fuglychalice.
Since I started going to a UU church, I have seen a variety of chalice illustrations and chalices. Hell, when I was attending First UU Church of Houston, they had a chalice-art event that had some very good chalice necklaces. And I like the artistic rendering of the chalice on the back of many of the UUA’s pamphlets, the old classic UUA logo which used to be the logo that they used until 2005 (of course, since I became a UU in 2007, I would never have known this if I hadn’t stumbled upon these blog posts).
To be as blunt as possible, the new chalice logo of the UUA sucks. It’s fugly as hell. Seriously. The old logo was powerful, if hard to draw. It symbolized the conjoining Unitarian and Universalist traditions, which was what the two circles that were coming together meant (in case you genuinely did not know). It is something that I, as a UU, feel proud to wear. Much like my Flying Spaghetti Monster necklace and my Evolve fish necklace. Or my rubber gay pride bracelet. These things all bring me a strong sense of pride when I wear them and I feel proud to be out and about no matter where I am. But don’t count on me being proud to wear such an ugly ass logo which is supposed to symbolize our uncommon denomination. We can do better.
There was a blogger that made a very apt comparison to the UUA’s fuglychalice logo and the logo of a financial institution. Let us look at his work and see how these stack up:
Fidelity Investments Logo
FuglyChalice Investments
Either way, the UUA seriously fucked up with the logo, but there are still some really nice chalice necklaces out there. Maybe after the surgery, I’ll be able to afford one. ^_^
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Tags: attachment, blog, chalice, change, church, content, discovery, eBay, event, Friends, fugly, fuglychalice, gay, Google, heaven, Heaven Sent Me, hell, iconography, lesbian, logo, man, May, men, monster, out, pamphlet, power, pride, proud, Religion and Spirituality, surgery, ugly, Unitar, Unitarian Universalism, UU, UUA, ze
I heartily agree. The new logo is butt ugly. The old one had fluidity and grace. And did anything speak volumes about UUism like its off-center asymmetry.
for chalice necklaces, try http://www.uniuniques.com/
and http://clf.uua.org/catalog/
(and no, I don’t get a commission for a sale ….)
Patrick, absolutely agree with you on that. I don’t see why it is that the UUA wanted to use such an ugly logo.
Steven, thanks! I found a more affordable one on the CLF’s website and I hope to receive it soon!
been wearing the lou mitchell triangular chalice necklace from uniuniques for years…only $35in silver! and i get a lot of compliments. have to agree on the fugly new chalice design… I recently decided to get a flaming chalice tattoo and couldn't imagine getting anything but the classic double circle design.
I totally agree that the new logo leaves much to be desired. The double circle is so beautiful and elegant. I seldom leave the house without my necklace or earrings and I often get compliments. What a great way to tell people about UUism!
Can’t we turn back the clock and use the old and sacred double circle and do away with the new logo?
JC Mass, did you get a chalice tattoo? I’ve been thinking I’d like to get a rainbow chalice, but not sure it could be rendered small and still work.
Some may think the former UUA Chalice symbol hard to draw, but I cannot think of a way to draw the new symbol. It is not attractive and looks mechanical/industrial to me. How did we get stuck with this?
I am not an artist, but I loved the double circles – a most time honored symbol, the circle. I, too, found the asymetrical aspect really meaningful.
I totally agree, it is just too ugly for words.
Wow, you are right it is ugly. what uu do you go to?
First Unitarian Society of Denver, Alison.