Symbolism of the Migrant Education Logo
-
Background
The logo for migrant education was introduced at the 1974 National Conference on Migrant Education. The migrant education logo was designed using symbols for the various aspects of a migrant student’s life and education.
A field
Migrant students are generally well acquainted with land containing rows of crops stretching toward the horizon. The converging lines at the bottom of the migrant education logo represent those fields. Therefore, those lines are also symbols of that portion of a migrant student’s life and education associated with the productivity and the hard labor of farm work. In the color version of the logo, the field is green.
A Book
Although a great deal of a migrant student’s education takes place in the fields, the classroom is the place where the important academic learning originates. Most of that classroom learning is associated with books. In other words, the fields must at some time be replaced by books for the migrant student to prepare most successfully for the future. Therefore, the field in the logo also represents a partially opened book, seen from the top. The furrows are the pages of the book.
The Sun
The pages of the book and the rows of crops lead to a blank horizon, as study and hard work lead to a future of wide-open possibilities. The yellow half circle above the horizon is a representation of the sun. The sun represents not only the hot sun associated with work in the fields, but also the bright light of knowledge and success waiting the student who is allowed to earn an education.
