Throughout history hundreds of icons and symbols have been developed, interpreted and reproduced; from cave paintings to computer iconography and advertising. This book brings together these variant themes and shows the iconographical and symbolic strands that connect them all, whether it is the universal circle, the hammer and sickle, or the cross that goes far beyond being a symbol of Christianity. The book includes a directory of over 1,000 signs and symbols, from alchemical symbols to the Adinkra signs of Ghana, demonstrating the extraordinary breadth of subject matter and concepts that can be expressed with such simplicity.