The ichthys

Ichthys

Ichthys, from Koine Greek: , is the Greek word for "fish"....

 symbol, or "Jesus fish", typically used to proclaim an affiliation with or affinity for Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, is sometimes a subject of satire

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

, especially when adorning the bumpers or trunks

Trunk (automobile)

The trunk or boot of an automobile or car is the vehicle's main storage, luggage, or cargo compartment. Trunk is used in North American English and Jamaican English; boot is used elsewhere in the English speaking world. Trunk is also primarily used in many non-English speaking regions, such as...

 of automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s. Most such ornaments are adhesive badges made of chrome-colored plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

. The following are some examples of these satires.

Darwin fish

The Darwin fish is an ichthys symbol with "evolved" legs and feet attached and often with the word Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

 inside (like the ΙΧΘΥΣ or Jesus found in some Christian versions). It symbolizes the scientific theory

Scientific theory

A scientific theory comprises a collection of concepts, including abstractions of observable phenomena expressed as quantifiable properties, together with rules that express relationships between observations of such concepts...

 of evolution

Evolution

Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...

, for which Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

 laid the foundation, in contrast with Creationism

Creationism

Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...

, which is often associated with Christianity. The Darwin fish bears a stylized resemblance to Ichthyostega

Ichthyostega

Ichthyostega is an early tetrapod genus that lived at the end of the Upper Devonian period . It was a labyrinthodont, one of the first fossil record of tetrapods. Ichthyostega possessed lungs and limbs that helped it navigate through shallow water in swamps...

, which is a major example of a transitional fossil

Transitional fossil

A transitional fossil is any fossilized remains of a lifeform that exhibits characteristics of two distinct taxonomic groups. A transitional fossil is the fossil of an organism near the branching point where major individual lineages diverge...

. Related to the Darwin fish is a fish with legs, the word 'evolve', and a hand that is holding a wrench.

Rhetorical scholar Thomas Lessl has conducted a questionnaire survey of users of the Darwin fish emblem. Based on their responses, he interprets the symbol as scientific "blackface," a parody that is one part mockery and one part imitation. While users frequently explain the symbol as a rebuke against Creationism, Lessl suggests that the emblem represents a metaphor for cultural progress.

The Darwin fish has led to competition among bumper stickers. A design was made with a larger "Jesus fish" eating the Darwin fish. Sometimes, the larger fish contains letters that spell the word "Truth." A further step shows two fish, one with legs labelled "I evolved", the other without legs labelled "You didn't". Another variant has a Darwin fish with a mouth, carrying away a smaller, dead Jesus fish by its tail. Yet another variant is the "ixnay" fish (from the Pig Latin

Pig Latin

Pig Latin is a language game of alterations played in English. To form the Pig Latin form of an English word the first consonant is moved to the end of the word and an ay is affixed . The object is to conceal the meaning of the words from others not familiar with the rules...

 for "nix", and punning on ΙΧΘΥΣ). Other variants depict an "Evolution" or "Darwin" fish swallowing an "ΙΧΘΥΣ", "Jesus" or "Truth" fish; another version has a "Science" fish swallowing a "Myth" fish.

Origin

In 1983, two friends involved in the southern California atheist and freethought

Freethought

Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...

 movements, Al Seckel

Al Seckel

Al Seckel is an American authority on visual and other types of sensory illusions, and how they relate to perception. Seckel collects, researches, and experiments with illusions to understand what conditions are necessary for them to work, with particular focus on how they can be explained in...

 and John Edwards, co-created the Darwin fish design, which was first used on a freethought leaflet entitled "Darwin's Views on Religion" for Atheists United in 1984. It was then sold by Atheists United and other freethought groups, which got free permission from Seckel and Edwards throughout the 1980s, to be used on bumper stickers and t-shirts. Chris Gilman, a Hollywood prop maker, claimed not to have seen Seckel's and Edward's design, joked of the idea as an "advertising" alternative to the "Jesus fish" in 1983 while working at a prop shop in Hollywood, when the employees' conversation turned to a court case involving teaching evolution versus creationism. He manufactured the first plastic car ornaments in 1988, and started Evolution Design 1990. Evolution design moved to Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 in 1994. Evolution Design's fish faced right, while Seckel and Edwards' design faced left, like the Christian symbol. When Evolution Design was at risk of losing its trademark on the design, Evolution Design began threatening to sue creators of look-alike Darwin fish emblems and unlicensed products. Recruited by one of the sellers of unlicensed products, Seckel and Edwards in turn sued Evolution Design for copyright infringement. Seckel and Edwards did not seek royalties, but wanted Evolution Design to allow free use of the design by anyone authorized by them. Seckel and Edwards felt that in the spirit of parody and free speech, their design predated Gilman's claimed origin of 1988. During the discovery phase Gilman was not able to offer any proof that he had created the design during the 1980s (which during that time was widely distributed), while Seckel and Edwards were able to supply postmarked and dated material containing their Darwin fish design from as early as 1983. The suit was settled when it became apparent that Seckel and Edwards had not properly protected their design.

Darwin Awards fish

The Darwin Awards

Darwin Awards

The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor, created by Wendy Northcutt to recognize individuals who contribute to human evolution by self-selecting themselves out of the gene pool through putting themselves in life-threatening situations...

 fish is a "dead fish" floating belly-up, with the words Darwin Awards inside, indicating that in natural selection

Natural selection

Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....

, the less-fit die out.

Edible fish

One parody of the symbol is a fish with the word "Gefilte" written in letters stylized to resemble Hebrew

Hebrew alphabet

The Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...

 letters. This refers to gefilte fish

Gefilte fish

Gefilte fish is a poached fish mince stuffed into the fish skin.More common since the Second World War are the Polish patties similar to quenelles or fish balls made from a mixture of ground deboned fish, mostly carp or pike...

, a common dish in Jewish cuisine

Jewish cuisine

Jewish Cuisine is a collection of the different cooking traditions of the Jewish people worldwide. It is a diverse cuisine that has evolved over many centuries, shaped by Jewish dietary laws and Jewish Festival and Sabbath traditions...

; used on an automobile, it indicates that the driver of the car is Jewish.

Another parody, most commonly seen in areas populated by those of Norwegian descent, is a fish containing the word "Lutefisk

Lutefisk

Lutefisk or Lutfisk is a traditional dish of the Nordic countries and parts of the Midwest United States. It is made from aged stockfish or dried/salted whitefish and lye . It is gelatinous in texture, and has an extremely strong, pungent odor...

".

Yet another parody on this fish, shows only the lower tail fin, and inside the fish reads "n'Chips", a play on "Fish and Chips

Fish and chips

Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...

".

"Sushi" written inside the ichthys is one more variant.

Star Trek

The "Trek Fish" was designed by Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry Jr.

Rod Roddenberry

Eugene Wesley "Rod" Roddenberry Jr. is an American television producer and the only son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and actress Majel Barrett. He is known for his work in science fiction, astronomy and space exploration...

, the son of Star Trek

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

creator Gene Roddenberry

Gene Roddenberry

Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...

. His motivations for doing so were as follows:
-- Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry Jr.

Its design evokes a starship as seen on the program with the legend "TREK" inside.

Pastafarianism

Advocates of the Pastafarianism parody religion, which was created in 2005 to protest the decision by the Kansas Board of Education

Kansas evolution hearings

The Kansas evolution hearings were a series of hearings held in Topeka, Kansas, United States May 5 to May 12, 2005 by the Kansas State Board of Education and its State Board Science Hearing Committee to change how evolution and the origin of life would be taught in the state's public high school...

 to require the teaching of intelligent design

Intelligent design

Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...

, have designed their own version of the Ichthys, with the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Flying Spaghetti Monster

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the deity of the parody religion the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism...

's characteristic "noodly appendages" and eye stalks. Another more complicated design features the above mentioned "Jesus fish eating Darwin fish" with the Flying Spaghetti Monster in turn attacking the "Jesus fish".

Cthulhu

Cthulhu

Cthulhu

Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...

 is a fictional giant creature, one of the Great Old Ones in H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....

's Cthulhu Mythos

Cthulhu Mythos

The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...

. It is often cited for the extreme descriptions given of its appearance, size, and the abject terror that it invokes. Cthulhu is often referred to in science fiction and fantasy circles as a tongue-in-cheek shorthand for extreme horror or evil. It also has been depicted in a parody of the Ichthys. In the novella The Whisperer in Darkness

The Whisperer in Darkness

"The Whisperer in Darkness" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written February–September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931. Similar to "The Colour Out of Space" , it is a blend of horror and science fiction...

, the main character and narrator refers to "the amusing 'sacred codfish' device".

Other fish

These parodies have spawned a number of niche markets for fish symbols. A "Viking" fish carrying a shield and wearing a horned helmet, with two icthys at the end of a spear, (among other variations) is sold on T-shirts and coffee cups. Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

 fans may choose the "Yoda Fish", which has two top tail sections on either side of the body section,representing Yoda's ears. Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

, and neopagan examples exist, and a number of non-religious examples have proliferated from political, technical and other fields.

Artgemeinschaft

The German Artgemeinschaft

Artgemeinschaft

The Artgemeinschaft Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft is a German Neopagan and Neonazi organization, founded in 1951 by Wilhelm Kusserow...

group, promoting racist

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

 neopaganism

Neopaganism

Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...

, uses a registered symbol showing an eagle catching an ichthys fish.