A (German for 'circle', as in a circle of friends) is a

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

used in European student societies in countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Estonia () as a post-nominal letter. __TOC__

Look and meaning

A consists of intertwined lines, followed by an exclamation mark if the society is still active. The lines mostly show the first letters of the name of the and/or the letters v,c,f or e,f,v. Examples: File:Zirkel der Hubertia Freiburg.jpg, Zirkel of ''

Corps Hubertia Freiburg The Corps Hubertia Freiburg is a fraternity (''Studentenverbindung'') in Freiburg im Breisgau, Freiburg, Germany. It was founded on October 29, 1868, and is one of 162 German Student Corps in Europe today. The Corps is a member of the Kösener ...

'' in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, Germany File:Zirkel_1927.JPG, Zirkel of ' in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany File:Zirkel of Corps Altsachsen Dresden.png, Zirkel of '' Corps Altsachsen'' in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Germany File:Zirkel_Gothia.jpg, Zirkel of ' in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, Austria File:Zirkel_stpauli_jena.svg, Zirkel of ' in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, Germany File:Zirkel_Ascania_Köln.png, Zirkel of ' in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany File:Zirkel_Arminia_Leipzig.tif, Zirkel of '' '' in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, Germany File:Zirkel der Landsmannschaft Schottland zu Tübingen.png, Zirkel of ''

Landsmannschaft Schottland The Landsmannschaft Schottland ("Scotland") is a German Studentenverbindung, fraternity – not to be confused with the Fraternities and sororities in North America, American variety – situated in Tübingen, a university city in south-western ...

'' in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

, Germany File:Htbzirkel2016.jpg, Zirkel of '' '' in

, Germany File:Zirkel Moeder Zuid-Oost-Vlaamse.png, Zirkel of ' (de ZOV) in

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Meaning of v-c-f: * ('The conjunct brothers should live')Peter Krause: ''O alte Burschenherrlichkeit - Die Studenten und ihr Brauchtum'', Graz, Wien, Köln 1979, page 78, 79 or * ('The circle of brothers should live') or * ('Live, grow, flourish').Paulgerhard Gladen: ''Gaudeamus igitur - Die studentischen Verbindungen einst und jetzt'', Köln 2001, page 31 Meaning of e-f-v: * ('Honour, Liberty, Fatherland').

Usage

The members of the use the as sign on or other things e.g. beer glasses etc. If a member signs in affairs of its , it places the after its signature. This use is similar to the use of

postnominals Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

in English-speaking countries. Examples: File:Strassencerevis Rhen Sil.jpg, with embroidered and oak leaves File:AKV Alemannia Alemannkrug 1.JPG, beer mug and with File:Corps Hubertia Freiburg - Crest on House with iron goggles.png, Crest of the fraternity

with a in the upper right. This crest is a wall display on the outside of a fraternity house. File:Wappen des Corps Altsachsen Dresden.png, The center of the official fraternity crest of Corps Altsachsen Dresden is marked with a . File:Jordania Cigarette Case.jpg, Cigarette case with the of a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

from Basel, in the

Jewish Museum of Switzerland The Jewish Museum of Switzerland in Basel provides an overview of the religious and everyday history of the Jews in Basel and Switzerland using objects of ritual, art and everyday culture from Middle Ages, the Middle Ages to the present. Hist ...

’s collection.

Look and meaning

Usage

See also

References

Further reading