Has this theory been done before

[Hmmm lies she/her]

So many people assume the Cosmere symbol is a representation of the Shattering. But I was wondering, what if it is actually a symbol for Adonalsium's God Metal. I think it looks similar to the Scadrial metal symbols. I don't think it has ever appeared in-universe, so we don't know when it was actually made. 

[Quantus he/him]

It certainly could be, or at least be a Symbol for Adonalsium itself (if not a Godmetal per say).  It doesnt actually go so far as a 1/16 motif to indicate the Shattering, so the quadrant theme could just be representative of Adonalsium's Dawnshards.  And arguably it could be all of the above, I dont think the idea conflict with each other.  

[alder24]

3 hours ago, Hmmm lies said:

So many people assume the Cosmere symbol is a representation of the Shattering. But I was wondering, what if it is actually a symbol for Adonalsium's God Metal. I think it looks similar to the Scadrial metal symbols. I don't think it has ever appeared in-universe, so we don't know when it was actually made. 

It looks nothing like a Scadrian symbol, I think we can definitely say that it didn't originate from Scadrial and Roshar for obvious reasons. There is a clear division of 4, it has 4 axes of symmetry, there are 3 different shapes on it, representing 3 realms and the star in the middle has 16 spikes, which represent Shards. I think it is just a symbol for Cosmere, not just the Shattering, not just Adonalsium, all of Cosmere. I don't feel there needs to be any mystery in it, sure some symbolism was included in - numbers 16 and 4, symmetry - but I doubt it has some hidden secret meaning.

Spoiler

Katelyn

I am interested to know the concept behind the cosmere symbol in [Arcanum Unbounded].

Isaac Stewart

This came about after about a dozen or two other sketches, some more complex, some less. Some more laden with meaning; some less. We wanted something simple and evocative of the cosmology. There IS some symbolism here; see the 16 points on the inner star....

Katelyn

The thoughts are the 16 points are Adonalsium, the 3 shapes around are the 3 realms. The other is that the symbol is meant to represent the movement of the shards throughout the cosmere.

Isaac Stewart

Each point you mention is something I considered when designing the symbol and intentionally built into it. Glad people are seeing it!

General Twitter 2018 (Nov. 21, 2018)

 

Spoiler

Isaac Stewart

[The Cosmere symbol] does have a lot of... I don't think there's any spoilers of there. First off, we just drew a lot of things to find something that looked cool. The star in the center has sixteen points, representative of the Shards. And then, it's just kind of like, they're spreading throughout the universe. At least, in my mind, it's a representation of the Shattering, and then beings spread throughout the cosmere. That's kind of what that is.

Arcanum Unbounded release party (Nov. 22, 2016)

And the symbol appears in Arcanum Unbounded which I think is an in-world book (at least without novels) written by Khriss.

Looking through WoBs, the 4 sided star in the center represents a burst of light:

Spoiler

Isaac Stewart

Art director Isaac here with an art reveal today. Recently Brandon, Kara, and Adam have been discussing publicity for Rhythm of War, and one thing that Tor has asked for is a simplified symbol to represent the Stormlight Archive on certain marketing materials.

Now, to be clear, we love the original Stormlight Archive symbol, and we are in no way abandoning or replacing it. Many readers have bought shirts and decals or have even gotten tattoos of it. We are using it in The Way of Kings leatherbound and will continue to use it as a chapter icon in Rhythm of War and future Stormlight books. So rest assured that we are not retiring this tried and true iconic symbol.

However, the symbol is complex, and it doesn’t read well at small sizes, so at Tor’s request, we’ve sought a simplified design. During this search, it occurred to Brandon and me that eventually we’ll need simplified symbols for all of the Cosmere worlds—symbols that will need to be easily recognizable from far distances—basically, space-era versions of our current symbols.

So, after hundreds of drawings and thumbnails, we’re unveiling to you now the space-era symbol for the Stormlight Archive.

We’ve built this on the skeleton of the original symbol, preserving the relationship between the sword, circle, and main focal point. Instead of extra swords, we have rays of light. Instead of the complex double-eye of the Almighty, we’ve chosen the burst of light from the original Cosmere symbol.

Going forward, we will actively use both this symbol and the original in promoting the Stormlight Archive, and eventually you can expect space-age versions of many of the current Cosmere planetary symbols.

Miscellaneous 2020 (April 8, 2020)