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The Cool S (also known as the Stussy S, Super S, Superman S, Universal S, Pointy S, Middle School S, Graffiti S, and by many other names) is a
graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
sign in
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
that is typically
doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lift ...
d on children's notebooks or graffitied on walls. The exact origin of the Cool S is unknown, but an instance was found in a late 1800s geometry textbook and it became prevalent around the early 1970s as a part of graffiti culture. Contrary to popular belief, the symbol neither originated from nor was used by the U.S. clothing brand
Stüssy Stüssy ( ) is an American privately held fashion house founded in the early 1980s by Shawn Stussy. It benefited from the surfwear trend originating in Orange County, California, but was later adopted by the skateboard and hip hop scenes. Hist ...
or the character
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
, though Stüssy did conduct an interview in 2010 with Jon Naar, a pioneer graffiti photographer with many works including this S, dating back to the 1970s. This symbol and other nearly-identical S-shaped motifs have appeared for at least hundreds of years. A similar pattern can be seen in 14th-century tilework at the central courtyard of the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo, as well as in the background of the 1533 painting " The Ambassadors" by Hans Holbein. It is also visually similar to the ancient Latvian "Zalkša zīme" symbol and the Dacian "Carligul Ciobanului" symbol.


Shape

The Cool S consists of 14 line segments, forming a stylized, pointed S-shape. It has also been compared to the
infinity symbol The infinity symbol (\infty) is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. This symbol is also called a lemniscate, after the lemniscate curves of a similar shape studied in algebraic geometry, or "lazy eight", in the terminol ...
. The tails (pointy ends) of the S appear to link underneath so that it loops around on itself in the same way as the
infinity symbol The infinity symbol (\infty) is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. This symbol is also called a lemniscate, after the lemniscate curves of a similar shape studied in algebraic geometry, or "lazy eight", in the terminol ...
does. The Cool S has no
reflection symmetry In mathematics, reflection symmetry, line symmetry, mirror symmetry, or mirror-image symmetry is symmetry with respect to a reflection. That is, a figure which does not change upon undergoing a reflection has reflectional symmetry. In 2D the ...
, but has 2-fold
rotational symmetry Rotational symmetry, also known as radial symmetry in geometry, is the property a shape has when it looks the same after some rotation by a partial turn. An object's degree of rotational symmetry is the number of distinct orientations in which ...
. As illustrated, a common way to draw the shape begins with two sets of three parallel, vertical lines, one above the other.


History

The origin of the Cool S is unclear. In the 1970s, photographer Howard Gribble took many photos of
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, many of which feature the number 8 in a similar style to the Cool S. In one of them, a very faded Cool S can be seen graffitied on a pavement. As the photo was taken in 1973, the S itself could date back to the 1960s, making it the earliest photographic evidence of the symbol. Also in 1973, Jon Naar's famous photographs of graffiti in New York featured the symbol many times, here identical to its modern form.
Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside ...
's artworks occasionally had the symbol hidden somewhere, and in the one titled ''Olive Oil'' from 1982 it is labelled as the "classic S of graff". The name "Superman S" comes from a belief that it was a symbol for
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
, whose costume features a stylized ''S'' in a diamond shape, but that shape is quite different. Although frequently referred to as the Stüssy S, Emmy Coats (who has worked alongside
Shawn Stussy Shawn may refer to: *Shawn (given name) *Shawn (surname) See also * Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' () ...
since 1985) has stated that it was never a symbol of the Californian surf company. A possible origin for this is that in 2010 the company uploaded a video to Vimeo and later to
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
in which one of Jon Naar's 1973 photographs of the symbol can be seen. However, accounts of attribution to Stussy precede the video by at least 20 years. Swedish YouTuber David Wångstedt, better known online as LEMMiNO, studied the topic for five years and attempted to find the origin of the Cool S, and he found a similar stylized S in the 1890 book ''Mechanical Graphics'', which was written by
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
professor Frederick Newton Willson. Archived a
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and th
Wayback Machine
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See also

*
Henohenomoheji ''Henohenomoheji'' ( ja, へのへのもへじ ) or ''hehenonomoheji'' () is a face known to be drawn by Japanese schoolchildren using hiragana characters. It became a popular drawing during the Edo period. The word breaks down into seven h ...
*
Emoticon An emoticon (, , rarely , ), short for "emotion icon", also known simply as an emote, is a pictorial representation of a facial expression using characters—usually punctuation marks, numbers, and letters—to express a person's feelings, ...
*
Twin mountain drawing A drawing of twin mountains (Indonesian: ''pemandangan gunung kembar,'' "twin mountain view", or ''pemandangan gunung legendaris,'' "legendary mountain view") is a drawing pattern commonly made by Indonesian kindergarten and primary school stud ...
* Kilroy was here * Sator Square


References

{{Reflist Drawing Graffiti and unauthorised signage Topology Youth culture Doodling motifs