Power of a Symbol

12 months ago, 79 students gathered in central Hong Kong to protest the need for greater democracy, for suffrage for all.

Putting aside the politics, I want to focus on the moment this protest became a movement and how that enabled a far larger number of people to stand up for what they believe in.

As protestors prepared to hold a minutes silence, the police launched volleys of tear gas into the crowd.

Protestors protected themselves with face masks, raincoats and umbrellas.

Until then, the symbols of protest had been a combination of student photos and yellow ribbons. Useful but not catchy, not united around a single cause or concept. 

In that moment, as people shielded themselves from the onslaught of tear gas, a more powerful symbol of resistance arose in the form of a very simple, non threatening item...the umbrella.

Protection

Functionally an umbrella protects us from the sun, from the the rain, an umbrella organisations protects those under it; an umbrella shelters those under its care.

In Hong Kong, by chance, it protected those demonstrating for their rights from those in power.

The yellow umbrella, a colour filled with sunshine, hope and a promise for the future, combined with a symbol of protection, became a lasting symbol of resistance, galvanising protestors under the name “the Umbrella Revolution”.

Empowering

Now anyone, anywhere, could effectively join the protest. From sharing a meme on social media to carrying a yellow umbrella down the street. Art wasn't reserved for imagery as yellow umbrella sculptures and installations sprang up across the city.

While the movement may not have achieved its aims to make Hong Kong more independent and democratic, it did successfully create a symbol that will long live on in the hearts and minds of all people, in Hong Kong and globally.

Effective Symbols

Visual symbols that combine the pain and hope of the affected people bring them to a cause, enabling it to live on, long after protestors have gone home or been imprisoned. They enable people to readily express their beliefs, by eithe telling their own story (by design, sculpture, image) or as a passive symbole of resistance, like carrying an umbrella down the street or in your wedding photos.

An effective symbol enabled the protest to spread far beyond those blockading the central streets of Hong Kong.

The power of art, particular protest art, is the ability to capture the hearts and minds of people who believe what you believe and enables people to participate, to become part of the tribe, the movement, while remaining within their comfort zone. Not everyone wants to face the tear gas but (almost) everyone wants to share their opinion in some way.

Of course, there are many symbols that fail to capture hearts and minds, its irrelevant whether they belong to a movement or a brand, to us humans, they are all the same.