{{Short description|Political party symbol for use on ballots}} {{Elections}}
An '''electoral symbol''' is a standardised symbol allocated to an independent candidate or political party by a country's election commission for use in election ballots.
==Usage== Symbols are used by parties in their campaigning, and printed on ballot papers where a voter must make a mark to vote for the associated party. One of their purposes is to facilitate voting by illiterate people, who cannot read candidates' names on ballot papers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2012-12-03 |title=With Pakistan Vote Looming, Ballot Symbols Prove A Tricky Topic |language=en |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-elections-ballot-symbols/24785036.html |access-date=2023-08-22}}</ref>
=== Colloquial symbols === {{split portions|portions=mascots|talk=Talk:Political parties in the United States#Article on party mascots|date=August 2024}}
In the United States, the Democratic Party has been associated with imagery of donkeys. This use was derived from opponents of then-president Andrew Jackson insulting him as a "jackass" to characterize his stubbornness, and later popularized in 1870 by political cartoonist Thomas Nast. In 1874, Nast also popularized the contrasting use of an elephant to similarly symbolize the Republican Party.<ref name="Rodibaugh">{{cite journal |last=Rodibaugh |first=Jennifer J. |date=Spring–Summer 2008 |title=Cartoonery: When Donkey and Elephant First Clashed |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2008/4/2008_4_14.shtml |journal=American Heritage |volume=58 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918122041/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2008/4/2008_4_14.shtml |archive-date=September 18, 2010 |access-date=June 15, 2018 |number=4}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
The Republican Party has since used an elephant as part of its official branding. While the donkey is widely-used by Democrats as an unofficial mascot, the party's first official logo—adopted in 2010—is an encircled "D".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Good |first=Chris |date=2010-09-15 |title=Democratic Party Steals Logo From the Pizza Place Where I Used to Work |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/09/democratic-party-steals-logo-from-the-pizza-place-where-i-used-to-work/63020/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite book |author=John William Ward |url=https://archive.org/details/andrewjacksonsym0000ward |title=Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age |publisher=Oxford Up |year=1962 |isbn=9780199923205 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/andrewjacksonsym0000ward/page/87 87]–88 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Rodibaugh" /> In some regions, the two parties may be associated with other symbols, such as a star and bald eagle respectively.<ref>{{cite web |author=Tomas Lopez |date=October 23, 2014 |title=Poor Ballot Design Hurts New York's Minor Parties ... Again |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/poor-ballot-design-hurts-new-yorks-minor-parties-again |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031521/https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/poor-ballot-design-hurts-new-yorks-minor-parties-again |archive-date=February 7, 2017 |access-date=February 6, 2017 |publisher=Brennan Center for Justice}}</ref>
=== Logos === Some countries have party logos or flags appear on the ballot. In New Zealand, the party logo is part of the party's official registration.<ref>{{cite web |title=Register of political parties |url=https://elections.nz/democracy-in-nz/political-parties-in-new-zealand/register-of-political-parties/ |website=Electoral Commission |access-date=16 February 2026}}</ref>
=== Standardised symbols === [[File:Kottayam-2006 (7).JPG|thumb|Mural in Kerala showing the hand of the Indian National Congress]]
India has a system of standardised symbols, which was adopted due to low literacy rates at the time of its independence. Parties can either choose from a catalog provided by the Election Commission of India or suggest their own symbol.<ref name="holland"/><ref name="iwanek"/> The catalog includes items such as a ceiling fan, purse, mango, air conditioner, or broom, with some items being adopted by parties for symbolic reasons.<ref name="holland"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Chari |first1=Mridula |title=The bizarre world of India’s political party symbols includes a nail cutter and a stethoscope |url=https://qz.com/194466/the-bizarre-world-of-indias-political-party-symbols-includes-a-nail-cutter-and-a-stethoscope |website=Quartz |access-date=16 February 2026 |language=en |date=2 April 2014}}</ref> A symbol assigned to a party designated as a national party can not be used by other parties in the country. A symbol assigned to a state party in one state can be allocated to different state party in another state.<ref name="GallagherMitchell2005">{{cite book |author1=Michael Gallagher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Igdj1P4vBwMC&pg=PA137 |title=The Politics of Electoral Systems |author2=Paul Mitchell |date=15 September 2005 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-153151-4 |page=142}}</ref><ref name="holland">{{Cite web |last=Holland |first=Oscar |last2=Suri |first2=Manveena |date=2019-04-12 |title=Ceiling fans, brooms and mangoes: The election symbols of India's political parties |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/india-election-party-symbols/index.html |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref name="iwanek">{{Cite web |last=Iwanek |first=Krzysztof |title=The Curious Stories of Indian Party Symbols |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/11/the-curious-stories-of-indian-party-symbols/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=The Diplomat |language=en-US}}</ref>
A similar system is used in Pakistan, where parties and candidates must be identified via one of the symbols approved by the Election Commission of Pakistan, such as the Pakistan People's Party arrow, the Pakistan Muslim League (N) tiger, and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf cricket bat (in reference to party founder Imran Khan being a retired player).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-23 |title=In Pakistan, election symbols speak louder than words |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1343941/pakistan |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref>
The availability and assignments of certain symbols have led to controversies; in Pakistan the book icon has faced criticism from secularist parties who believed that its assignment to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) allowed it to be presented as the Quran<ref>{{Cite web |last=Khattak |first=Daud |date=2012-12-04 |title=The Problem With Using Symbols on Ballots in Pakistan |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/12/the-problem-with-using-symbols-on-ballots-in-pakistan/265826/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The Indian National Congress's hand was the target of conspiracy theories that stated it was an Islamic symbol.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Banerjee-Fischer |first1=Joanna |title=What do India's political logos symbolize? |url=https://www.dw.com/en/what-do-indias-political-logos-symbolize/a-68095324 |website=Deutsche Welle |access-date=16 February 2026 |language=en |date=27 January 2024}}</ref>
=== Numbers === Some countries assign numbers to parties, such as the two-digit electoral numbers in Brazil.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
=== Letters ===
A system of 1–4 Hebrew letters and additional symbols of 1–4 Arabic letters is used in Israel (this also facilitates voters whose knowledge of Hebrew or Arabic, the two most spoken languages, is limited).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-election-day-is-still-surprisingly-low-tech/|title=Israeli Election Day is still surprisingly low-tech|date=8 April 2019}}</ref> {|class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:12px |+Traditional letter combinations !Letters !Historical owner !Debut !Component !Historical Owner !Debut !Component #2 !Historical Owner !Debut |- |rowspan=2|מחל |rowspan=2|Likud<br>{{small|(Likud–Gesher–Tzomet, Likud Beiteinu)}} |rowspan=2|1973 |rowspan=2|חל<br>40px |rowspan=2|Gahal |rowspan=2|1965 |ח |Herut |1949 |- |ל<br>15px |Israeli Liberal Party |1961 |- |rowspan=3|אמת<br>40px40px |rowspan=3|Israeli Labor Party, The Democrats<br>{{small|(Alignment, One Israel, Zionist Union, Labor-Gesher-Meretz)}} |rowspan=3|1969 |rowspan=2|את<br>40px |rowspan=2|Alignment |rowspan=2|1965 |א |Mapai |1931 |- |ות<br>20px |Ahdut HaAvoda |1955 |- |rowspan=2|מ<br>20px |rowspan=2|Left Bloc, Mapam |rowspan=2|1944 |- |rowspan=2|מרצ<br>40px40px30px |rowspan=2|Meretz<br>{{small|(Democratic Union)}} |rowspan=2|1992 |- |רצ<br/>40px |Movement for Civil Rights and Peace |1973 |- |rowspan=2|טב |rowspan=2|National Union–Mafdal<br>{{small|(The Jewish Home, Union of Right-Wing Parties, Yamina)}} |rowspan=2|2006 |ט |Moledet, National Union–Tkuma<br>{{small|(National Union, Religious Zionist Party)}} |1988 |- |ב<br>15px20px |Mizrachi, National Religious Party, The Jewish Home, Yamina<br>{{small|(United Religious Front, National Religious Front)}} |1944 |- |rowspan=2|גד<br>30px |rowspan=2|Religious Torah Front |rowspan=2|1955 |ג |Agudat Yisrael<br>{{small|(United Torah Judaism)}} |1951 |- |ד |Poalei Agudat Yisrael |1951 |}
Danish and Icelandic parties are identified by a singular "party letter", which may or may not be the initial letter of the party's name. Denmark uses a separate set of letters for parliamentary minutes and documents which differ from the electoral ones. In Iceland, the party letters were initially assigned alphabetically in order of the establishment date; today new letters are chosen by the Icelandic Ministry of Justice.<ref>{{cite web |title=Partigruppernes bogstaver |url=https://www.ft.dk/da/partier/om-politiske-partier/partigruppernes-bogstaver |website=Folketinget |language=da}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hawkins |first1=Mary |last2=Onnudottir |first2=Helena |editor1-last=Gill |editor1-first=Graeme |editor2-last=Angosto-Ferrandez |editor2-first=Luis F. |title=Symbolism and Politics |date=21 May 2020 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781000727937 |chapter=From Resurrection and New Dawn to the Pirate Party: Political Party Names as Symbolizing Recent Transformations in the Political Field in Iceland}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Elections Category:Political symbols