Please look at the logo of the Indian Humanist Union on our website http://india.humanists.net

Coffee mugs decorated with the "Happy Humanist" symbol were on sale at the IHEU Congress in Oslo, 1986, and I bought one. Unfortunately, they were very expensive, like everything else in Norway at the time, or I would have brought more home. The artisans who made these and many other attractive Humanist items were attending their stall and I enjoyed chatting with them. It seems that Humanists in the far north where the Arctic winters are long spend hours indoors making this merchandise.

I like the idea of the Happy Human looking less rigid, however I don't think it's a good idea for it to look overweight or obese. I like the Happy Human symbol that is shown on wikipedia pages (I can't find a larger copy):

I looked for news about the IHEU organization, not expecting anything shocking then just happened upon 'The Happy Human Symbol'. The article wasn't disturbing, but the user comments were! When I first saw the Happy Human Symbol years ago it made sense. I'm not suggesting that it is a perfect symbol, but the comments posted earlier almost directly state that a 'black-filled' character cannot be happy or that a black-filled character is a racial stand-in for black people in the context of white-filled characters. I think any color can fill-in the happy human symbol, but none are happier than another and I hope that we continue to see the symbol as universal, rather than representative of a particular race.

In 1982, when we formed the Humanist Fellowship of San Diego, we decided to use our own version of the Happy Humanist symbol. If there is a way to post it here I will show you, but there doesn't seem to be any prompt on my monitor for this. We made it look lighter and less threatening, and - most importantly - curved rather than rigidly straight-sided.

This was learned from Humanism's enemies. In August 1980, Rev. Tim La Haye announced that he was joining with Jerry Falwell to fight against Humanism. To scare his parishioners, he projected a huge "Happy Man" symbol three metres tall on the wall of his church. I watched and took note. Rev. La Haye denounced Humanism as "seductive," and he had redesigned the "Happy Man" symbol to present Humanism as "seductive."

Areas of black fill, outlined with straight edges and sharp points, do not look seductive. They look severe. Tim La Haye and Jerry Falwell were setting out to present Humanism as seductive. They have skilled people working for them who well understand the power of symbolism and the subliminal messages conveyed by your choice of color and pattern. A rigid black-filled figure is not appealing. Humanism would do well to use colors, and we carefully avoided IHEU's solid fill, instead using crosshatching.

You can see our logo at the website of the Humanist Fellowship of San Diego, www.HFSD.info

And how do you like my Happy Human Symbol? I like the color combination of blue, red and white. The black and white combination feels too boring, but the red and white comes through very esthetically instead. The happy human symbol is evidently a sign of optimism. The Happy Human on top of this page (white on red background) seems to be perfectly fine as it is. There is no real need to change that one. I imagine that this site could be putting on ads with t-shirts and other items showing the Happy Human Symbol for people to wear. Perhaps it should be possible to find a cooperative or artisans somewhere that would take over the production of such marketing venture, for the benefit of humanist programs aiming to help people in need, create jobs, assist with education, etc. I'd like to see a red tea cup, or a whole red porcellain service, with the Happy Human Symbol on all pieces. Drinking a tea from such a happy red cup, would possibly make a difference in everybody's daily routine. I would like to wear pants with the happy human ornamentation. A pad for the mouse of the computer would look awesome in red and white with the design we see on the left top of this page. Imagine hanging shower curtains with the happy human symbol on it, all in red. What an exciting way of taking a shower that would be...? In zero time the happy human symbol would have stolen the hearts of many people, if it was allowed to travel that happy way for the liberation of people's minds through the cultures. I can see it coming up soon. I like the third one much more, but that's my own affinity with the colors; possibly because I am a female, a Latin-American, I may be more attached to colors, etc.

This one is the one we see on the left top of this page...

The rounded edges speak of comfort and feeling good...

This is my favorite, because I like blue-red-white...

And this one could represent diversity, or multi-culturalism; or a Happy Human Symbol of the Global Family. The different colors standing also for different forms of perceiving and understanding, yet adjusting to stay together and all claim the same happiness. Here again, the rounded edges work for the absence of frictions and hardships, which contributes to the feeling of overcoming differences...

This is for those who prefer the traditional red/white/black colors...

And here is one simple in black and white...

The black human symbol on white background? Hmmm... This human symbol feels like if the happy human is not really having a happy time. It gives the impression that he would be screaming for help...!

Isn't it amazing, how changing the colors does change the face of the Happy Humanist Symbol...!

Because it is important to include the logo into a frame, the white one is in my opinion more appropriate. Space around the logo within the frame can be colored (for instance in the red presently used). Once defined it is important that the logo be shown always in the same fashion (for marketing purposes).