THE LOGO RATIONALE

In the words of a famous philosopher and writer, Indian religions have a “feeling of sacredness of all life, which finds its expression in the negative doctrine of ahimsa or non-injury to all creatures and in the positive one of karuna and maitri,i.e. active compassion and service…”

This trait “developed as a historical process in the culture of India”. From earliest times “the religious validity of animal sacrifice was questioned and its practice discountenanced”. There was always criticism of meat eating. The “idea of ahimsaor non-injury to every living creature was given the greatest value” by Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. If there is anything that is uniquely Indian, it is this concept of ahimsa.

To understand the logo, I must first tell you about Emperor Ashoka who lived in the 4th century B.C. He was a successful warrior king of the Mauryan dynasty who was the first to rule the whole land of India, which extended up to Central Asia under Ashoka. After a bitter and bloody war in Kalinga (modern Orissa in eastern India), where the sight of thousands of dead men, horses and elephants affected him very badly, he forsook war for peace and the propagation of Dharma. He became a follower of Buddhism, although he never banned or even criticized the other religions. In fact, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism never regarded themselves as distinct religions, although they had serious doctrinal differences (something like Roman Catholicism and Protestantism). In fact the Buddha is regarded as one of the incarnations of the Hindu God Vishnu, while Jains worship all the Hindu deities. Ashoka sent monks out to Nepal, China, Sri Lanka and Central Asia (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, etc.), from where Buddhism fanned out throughout Asia. Thus he united Asia through Buddhism.

The emblem of Emperor Ashoka consists of a pillar topped by a capital of 4 huge lions facing the 4 cardinal directions. The lions carry a wheel, which represents the wheel of Dharma, the 24 spokes representing the 24 hours in a day, which means that Dharma must be maintained at all times. The spokes also represent the sun, the giver of life on earth. Dharma is the law of ethics and morality, the divine cosmic and social order that every individual has a duty and obligation to uphold. Dharma also means one’s duty to uphold righteousness. Ahimsais an essential aspect of Dharma. While Dharma forms the basis of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, it is merely a code of ethics and morality and does not include questions of doctrine (such as the soul, rebirth, etc.) It restricts a person to behaving righteously.

On the base of the Ashokan capital is a ring decorated with lively animals, separated by plants. Unlike the heraldic imperial lions, these animals are lively and playful and represent Ashoka’s laws to protect animals. The pillars were free-standing stone monuments erected all over the country proclaiming Ashoka’s vision of Dharma and Ahimsa.

Ashoka laid great stress on Ahimsa or non-violence,which he declared as his state policy and which was the basis of his Dharma. He banned the killing of animals in his palace, the killing of animals on certain days in his empire and devised an elaborate code for the practise of ahimsa and for the prevention of cruelty to animals. He spoke out against animal sacrifice and did much to stop it. He was probably the first – if not the only – ruler in the ancient world who made ahimsa his state policy. I do not know of any other, but I may be wrong. In fact, he did more to propagate Buddhist philosophy and the concepts of ahmisaand vegetarianism than the Buddha himself (who, incidentally, died of eating poisoned pork). In my opinion, he was greater than the Buddha, but his humility prompted him to give the credit for his ideas to the Buddha. Today, ahimsa is generally associated with kindness to animals.

For the AfA logo, I omitted the plants between the animals as I felt that could confuse AfA with an environmental conference. A different wheel of Dharma (with single lines for spokes) appears on the centre of the Indian flag.

The AfA logo represents the wheel of Dharma, the law and duty of righteousness, of which ahimsa is an essential part. Surrounding the wheel is a ring of animals (like those on the base of the Ashokan pillar) which affirms that AfA’s Dharma is the protection of animals. While the animals on Ashoka’s capital base are the goose, deer, peacock, etc (which were great delicacies in his days), I have used the animals that are relevant to AfA’s members, such as the dog, cat, etc.

To summarize, the logo consisting of the wheel and a ring of animals around it says that AfA’s Dharma or duty is the protection of animals and ahimsa (non-violence) towards animals.

This is a very long and elaborate story, but I thought you would appreciate and understand that I wanted to incorporate the concepts used by the first ruler who used his power and that of the State to protect animals, as well as to include the uniquely Indian concept of ahimsa, since India is the host country.                        

Dr. Nanditha Krishna

Logo design by Dr. Nanditha Krishna