You may well be wondering, why, back in the mid1990's, I chose the skull and crossed bones for the logo of my publishing imprint? Why adopt such an iconic symbol to represent the interests of my company?
The Skull and Bones or Jolly Roger as it is known, was certainly flown by pirate ships as a warning to those they were about to attack and confirmed their status as pirates. Only a real pirate dared to fly the flag for it was an offense which was subject to execution. I am certainly no pirate, far from it! The only thing I attack with gusto is the writing and publishing of my books, the high seas I sail on, the waves of words that flow into sentences to crash upon the pages I write. Hardly the acts of a pirate and hopefully my work is not so offensive to demand my execution!
The skull and crossed bones has also been used in more recent times to denote toxic or poisonous substances. Whilst certain characters in my books could be considered both, to my knowledge, the content of my writing is neither toxic or poisonous!
So why use this specific symbol? Contemplating the pictogram, I discovered that in many cultures the skull represented the seat of our knowledge, and I imagined the leg bones to be those of one seated in a cross legged position. Together, I perceived them as a symbol for an otherworldly thinker sat in contemplation. I knew nobody would get my take on the symbol, but I didn't care. "One day," I told myself, "I'll tell people why I chose the skull and bones as a logo and hopefully they'll understand."
That day is today.