Cosmere Symbol

[Mercy he/him]

I've noticed a new Cosmere symbol appearing in several places lately, but I can't seem to find where it has come from.

Does anyone know the origin of this symbol, and if possible a source / official proof?

More interestingly - what do we all think it means?

[tobar14 he/him]

The little star thing in the middle has 16 points. 16 shards....

[Ammanas]

1 hour ago, Demoux said:

Our cover of Arcanum Unbounded is very different here in the UK, and doesn't feature that symbol. I see it now, looking at the US cover.

Why do the UK always get the best covers? Seriously its like that for every book series.

[Trae Cooper he/him]

Hi --

The interpretation that I made when the symbol was shared with some of the beta/gamma readers a few months ago was this:

 

The sixteen pointed central star represents the 16 separate shardic intents held within the intact Adonalsium, represented as a whole with the circle. The four pointed star symbolizes the shattering when the circle is broken and  conjures imagery of distant twinkling stars as well as the jagged but regular abstract idea of shards. The surrounding arches both suggest the diaspora of the various shards throughout the cosmere galaxy, while they can also be viewed as two overlapping ovals representing how despite the distance between the shard worlds, that they still affect each other and cause interesting overlap at times.

 

Trae

eta:

I do like the notion of arc / diamonds / circle representing the three realms. I might have to revisit my initial interpretation

Edited November 2, 2016 by nalesean

[Pagerunner he/him]

It's on the cover of the cover on Arcanum Unbounded (let's not go down that road again), but it was apparently revealed first at the Phoenix Comic-Con earlier this year, on a t-shirt, I think. We discussed the meaning some back when the AU cover was first revealed. My favorite interpretation was that the sixteen-pointed star in the middle represents Adonalsium, and that the three other features (arcs, diamond, and circle) represent the three Realms. Which goes with which, is a matter of debate; I like the arcs as being Physical, with separate and individual planets. The diamond is Cognitive, a continuous shape made out of inverted arcs. Which leaves the circle for Spiritual.

[Mercy he/him]

Our cover of Arcanum Unbounded is very different here in the UK, and doesn't feature that symbol. I see it now, looking at the US cover.

[Mercy he/him]

I love the UK covers way more than the other covers for all of the Cosmere books - but I'm a fan of consistency, so that's definitely a contribution.

But it's meant that I've missed out on the symbol from AU, so there is a downside to the UK covers.

[Argent he/him]

I am actually surprised it's showing around, I had to ask Isaac personally about a week ago to get the clear version...

[Chaos he/him]

I believe Coppermind folk recreated a trace of the cosmere symbol which we saw on the cover. That's how they did every symbol there: they painstakingly recreated them by hand. But I could be wrong there.

[kenod]

My own idea is that it revers to the default explanation for how the three realms work using the sunlight analogy. Sunlight shines from the Spiritual Realm through the screen of the Cognitive Realm, and falls onto the surface of the Physical Realm (not sure if the original explanation was exactly the same, I don't know where to find it).