On the opening pages of Symbol Sourcebook from 1972, industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss made a direct appeal to the reader:

A PLEA FOR MORE SYMBOLS

My interest in symbols is a continuing one. I hope that the countless people and organizations who have already contributed information will continue to do so, and that they will be joined by new enthusiasts who are introduced to the importance of symbols through this Sourcebook.

One day a central symbol archive surely will be established, in which all symbols used throughout the world will be catalogued and available for reference. Looking toward this goal, we are keeping our Data Bank active and open for further contributions - which indeed will be welcomed. Information may be sent to the author, P.O. Box 70, South Pasadena, California, 91030

This universal symbol archive is not yet available (although perhaps the internet is approaching that as a limit). Meanwhile, David Gibbs identifies some confusion which is getting in the way of this comprehensive goal:

What is meant by the word 'symbol' here needs some defining. This presents problems, because the definition has changed over the last century and continues to do so. One reason for this is the lax and relatively recent interchangeability of the terms 'symbol' and 'logo,' which has been and still is confusing. Design is a business where the latest buzzwords can be embraced without too much thought being given to the consequences. So it was with 'logo' when it first entered the language in the 1930s as a cute and fashionable short form of 'logotype.

The trick (well, one among many) is that symbols are anything *but* universal. A symbol is merely graphic shorthand for an idea, a visual-linguistic convention — it means what it means only because we agree that it does. These meanings shift in cultural context, temporal context, visual context, and so on. Here is one symbol in the process of becoming from Dreyfuss's book [↓]:



Perhaps this looks at first like it might be on  the way to being a universal symbol for something, but, as we will see, it clearly is not. Nonetheless, this book is a valuable archive. Page after page, the sourcebook collects and organizes graphic symbols (I spy the g-e-s-t-a-l-t spiral!):



Meanwhile, why we wait for the symbol archive, we are going to add a few of our own.

Continues in class . . .