An international symbol for Atheism has long been needed, and when American Atheists was first formed, in 1963, a contemporary scientific symbol was chosen, thus acknowledging that only through the use of scientific analysis can humankind reach out for a better life. Recognizing the new atomic era, but emphasizing the truths of older scientific findings, the atomic whirl was chosen. The atom is still the basic distinguishing unit of all matter, the smallest particle of an element that can exist and still retain the properties of that element. One of the orbitals in the symbol is shown as broken, or open ended, to show that although Atheists rely on the scientific method for increase of knowledge, they know that not all of the answers are “in” as yet. That open orbital forms an A to represent Atheism, and the smaller letter in the center represents the first letter of the country in which an affiliated group is located. In our case, the A signifies American, and the symbol altogether represents American Atheists.
