About Our Logo

Many of our members and supporters have seen our new logo by now, as we have employed it in several high-profile publications and events. But as we launch our new website and reaffirm our new identity, we'd like to share a few words about UUSC's logo, from President Charlie Clements:

"The flaming chalice was first seen in April 1941 in the refugee camps in France as the symbol of the Unitarian Service Committee. It was designed by a Jewish refugee, Hans Deutsch, and commissioned by Rev. Charles Joy, who believed the refugees we served in the midst of Nazi and Vichy informers needed a symbol to know that they were in safe hands. Rev. Joy believed they needed a symbol of hope, which the flaming chalice has been for nearly seven decades. When we created our new mission statement and as we prepared to unveil our exciting new website, we decided that it was also time for a new logo.

"Of course, we retained the flaming chalice, but now you can see it is framed by joined hands ... these open hands, universal symbols of welcome and fellowship, sweep outwards, indicating our engagement with the broad community of people committed to human rights. The chalice enshrines our origins; its central position reaffirms the continuing importance of our Unitarian Universalist values. The logo's sweeping parallelism suggests flowing energy, consistent with our vision for UUSC as a dynamic and agile force in the world of human rights advocacy."

— excerpted from plenary address of Charlie Clements, General Assembly 2008, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.