SYM·0002 · Asklepian
Rod of Asclepius
medicine, healing
- Unicode
- U+2695 staff of aesculapius · caduceus U+2624
- Meaning
- A single serpent on a staff — the Greek god of medicine; renewal through the snake’s shed skin.
- History
- A cult attribute of Asclepius, adopted as the emblem of the medical profession.
- Variants
- Frequently confused with ☤ the Caduceus (two snakes, wings) — a symbol of commerce, wrongly used by many US medical bodies.
- Related
- ☤ Caduceus (SYM·0005) — the symbol it is mistaken for, catalogued next to it deliberately; ☥ Ankh.
- Appears
- Ambulances, the WHO emblem, pharmacy signage.
- Evolution
- Cult object → professional standard — with its own cautionary tale of mistaken identity.
Sources · 3
- documented Walter J. Friedlander, The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine, 1992 — the standard account of the substitution, including its adoption by the US Army Medical Corps in 1902.
- documented The Unicode Standard, U+2695 STAFF OF AESCULAPIUS; U+2624 CADUCEUS — the two encoded separately, whatever practice does with them.
- traditional The shed skin read as renewal — an ancient association, asserted rather than recorded.