Our Logo — Its Mystery and Its History

By Joyce Andrews ~ TCF Sugar Land - SW Houston Chapter

Are the hands reaching out or letting go? Are they the hands of one person or two? These are questions often heard from new members...so we asked the people who know.

Much of the beauty of our logo lies in the fact that there are no definitive answers to its symbolism. At first glance its meaning seems obvious; yet as you look more closely, these questions may arise.

The hands represent different things to us at different periods in our grief journeys. To the newly bereaved, the hands reach out toward him or her, offering comfort and support. Later in our grief journeys, they may symbolize the process of letting go, of coming to terms with the child’s death, of acknowledging that the child is no longer a part of our earthly existence.

Still later in our grief journeys, we begin to reinvest in life and reach out toward others. Then our hands become the hands which are extended to the newly bereaved.

The circle is complete: a circle of friends, a circle of love and understanding, with the child at the center.

Thanks to the efforts of TCF historian Helen Robinson of the Tuscaloosa AL Chapter, the origin of our logo has now been documented. Helen has been in touch with Joe Lawley, Founder‑Chairman of The Society of The Compassionate Friends. Joe supplied details on how the logo came about, as well as a copy of a letter which John and Maggie Fisher of Coventry, England, wrote on February 12, 1975.

In his letter, John says that their daughter Clare “was killed on November l7th last, aged 8 1/2. By chance we met someone, who knew someone who had heard of the Friends, who lived in Watford, some twenty or thirty miles from our home, and as a consequence Mrs. Joan Wills wrote to us and subsequently came to our home.… Although we still feel our loss greatly we both know that we are now ready to assist the Friends ourselves.

“Our help would also include the services of my own company (John Fisher Design & Marketing, Ltd.), which include Advertising, Design, Marketing and Public Relations activities.... We are mobile, immediately available, and ready, both physically and spiritually, to begin work for the Friends. Please use us.”

Joe tells us that “Its first appearance was on the June 1975 Newsletter and is recorded on that occasion as being ‘in a bright emerald green’ subsequently however settling into the generally universal color of royal blue and white from 1977 on.”

(This article first appeared in the Spring, 1998 issue of Friends, Caring and Sharing, which at the time was The Compassionate Friends' in-house newsletter for chapter leaders and steering committee members.)

The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to  assist families toward the positive resolution of grief  following the death of a child of any age and to provide information  to help others be supportive.