Extinction Symbol: What Does The Logo of Climate Change Protests Mean

These past two years have been characterized by the strikes aimed at bringing global attention to the problem of climate change. One global environmental movement established in 2018, in the United Kingdom, has since tried to compel government action to mitigate climate change by performing nonviolent civil disobedience. This movement is called Extinction Rebellion. And, it has come up with a symbol – called the Extinction Symbol – which has become the logo of climate protests.

What Lies Behind the Extinction Symbol?

The Extinction symbol stands for the danger represented by the Holocene extinction, also known as the sixth mass extinction on our planet. The circle represents planet Earth. The hourglass is a warning that time is running out for many species and, in general, for our planet. Moreover, the “X” stands for “extinction”. The symbol was created by a London street artist who calls himself Goldfrog ESP since nobody knows who he is.

The artist claims that he came up with the Extinction symbol while he was working on protest. He realized that the environmental movement did not have its own logo.

This symbol looks like some other famous symbols, like, for instance, the peace symbol and the anarchy one. They all depict a circle with a design in it. These symbols also share some of the messages they wish to transmit. The Extinction symbol, as well as the anarchy one, criticizes consumerism and ownership. Moreover, the extinction logo and the peace one have in common their concern for the future of our planet. They both were created as a result of protest movements.

The Extinction Rebellion

The aim of the global environmental movement “Extinction Rebellion” – also abbreviated as XR – is to raise global awareness on the issue of climate breakdown and the sixth mass extinction. More specifically, the movement believes that governments must declare a climate and ecological emergency and inform the public on the urgency of the change. Moreover, the activists urge people to take immediate actions in order to stop biodiversity loss and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. They also propose to organize citizens assemblies that can take an active part in the decisions regarding climate and ecological justice.

The Extinction Rebellion has also a youth wing, called XR Youth, that formed in July 2019. The XR Youth, in addition to climate justice, focuses on the issues of Global South – a term that refers to low and middle-income countries – and indigenous people.