I have a hat pin with the naturist symbol … for over a year now and not a single person has asked about it. I also have it on the back of a T-shirt, but the front addresses naturism directly.
I don’t have a problem with a symbol per se, but I question what purpose it serves. If it is to help naturists identify other naturists, it seems to have succeeded in that. If it is to help naturists identify to non-naturists, it hasn’t moved that needle at all. I don’t see recognition by the INF (another symbol that effectively only signifies naturism to other naturists, being more or less unknown in the clothed world) helping advance this symbol as anything other than a secret handshake of sorts among people who know what it means.
The symbols of naturism to the non-naturist public need to be naturists, ourselves. Know us by our deeds and all that.
I found that the decision of which would be the symbol to be used was very arbitrary and restricted to voters in Twitter back in the day. I proposed a couple of options myself that didn’t get chosen. One of the was intended as an evolution of Dutch jeweller one with a genderless figure from the back.
Personally, I wouldn't like to see this symbol adopted in any official way, at least not to globally signal naturism. That's not to take anything away from the creators or those who use it, but it just doesn't represent nudism for me. I understand it was designed to be low key, perhaps even covert but that doesn't represent my view of naturism in 2025. We should be putting the secret signals behind us and being more out there and direct. Being clandestine only perpetuates the stigma. This design does not instinctively give any clues to it's meaning except perhaps to those in the secret club.
Could I come up with something better? No, but I'm no expert with graphics. I recognise how difficult it is to signal nudity in a pictographic form but for me it really needs to be something more obvious, in the style of European road signage perhaps. I'm also not keen on the sun and beaches themes as this no longer represents the wider practice of nudism and conveys a very narrow and old fashioned message.
I confess to being a little disappointed how this particular design has been touted as 'the' official naturist symbol by online promotion, when it's far from that. Having said that. I'm sure this sign has value for those who want something more discreet. I know what it means should I encounter it but I just wouldn't use it myself. Maybe we need two versions?
I don't mind having a symbol that unites us under naturism, but dear god can we get one without eye-bleeding colors and something more than just a sun and waves? That doesn't represent naturism at all to me.
I'm not really sure if I'm a nudist or a naturist. I just know that if I don't have to wear clothes, I don't. I do fly a Grey, White, Green nudist flag on my hog. I think it's a little bolder tho it has only garnered two questions to which I simply said " it's a nudist flag ".
I agree with the other commenters that the "current" symbol is lacking. Sun and waves are enjoyed by textiles as much as naturists. Naturism is a lifestyle, but the sun and waves symbol only represents "free beaches", and only if you read somewhere that the waves are supposed to represent a bare buttocks. I always had the TNS big green "N" decal on my vehicle, which also had small print "The Naturist Society". One fellow thought I was supporting "naturalists" because I don't think he even heard of naturists, but it did start a conversation.
I’d definitely wear a nudist (skinny dipper)flag pin in public as a way to be identified by fellow nudist in a non-nudist setting and possibly make new friends. however, the current flag is too easily confused with a Ukraine 🇺🇦 flag (currently trending). I’m just saying. Can we come up with something more distinctive?
In 1977, the space probe Voyager was sent out of the solar system to communicate with any potential aliens with a Golden Record designed by Carl Sagan and others. There is an anatomically correct image of a nude male and a nude female. Please use that image.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks the idea is fine, but the execution on this particular design is lacking. There's just too many lines, spaced too far apart, going in too many different directions in this design. It lacks a central focal point, and even though I know what it is it still takes a few seconds for my brain to assemble the component parts into a coherent whole. And I've looked at that design probably thousands of times. I'd like to see the same concept reworked into something a little more iconographic.
Howdy! I’m the rando that casually submitted the design to the contest without hardly an ounce of art/design training. It was offered as one idea, and it happened to resonate with the majority of those who voted. I agree with you! It could use some work! But I’m not the expert, and have never once suggested (publicly or privately) that it must remain exactly as I originally submitted it.
I’ve seen your work. Heck, I’ve bought some awesome stickers from your online store! Take a swing at an update! 🙂
Maybe you know another designer or two that can offer constructive feedback to dial it in to an even better version of what was originally submitted and recognized. (I’m thinking of all the different versions of the USA flag - it has evolved MANY times.)
Hi - apologies if I came off a little harsh there, I realize I had slipped back into art director mode and was giving notes as if I were looking at a design from an agency. Because I honestly thought this had originated with an agency. I missed the whole submission and voting phase, I don't spend much time of Twitter. So congratulations are definitely due - your design is genuinely much better than many designs I have seen from professionals. Also, thanks for buying stuff!
And honestly, as I said the concept is almost there. If I were giving feedback, I'd say give it a defined circular border to create visual focus. My suggestion would be to basically invert the colors on the sun. Have a yellow, circular background and let the lines of the sun be white, reaching out to the edge of the circle. I'd also think about making the yellow more orange, partly so it doesn't get confused with the now-ubiquitous Ukrainian flag, but also so the blue pops a little more. I think once you have that focus, the design will work really, really well.
There’s a strange assumption in the comments that the symbol should be more “explicitly nude” so that non-naturists instantly associate it with nudity. But… why? That’s not always helpful or even desirable. Nudity isn’t always the message. The message of naturism is not “Look, I’m naked.” The message is “Look, I’m free."
Naturism is about what nudity makes possible. It’s about what’s underneath the clothing, and what happens when we take it off. Not just physically, but socially, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually.
We’re not trying to make a brand that screams “naked!” to the world like a neon sign. That could easily be misunderstood, especially in a world that already hypersexualizes the human body. Subtlety is part of what protects naturism’s dignity. We don’t need to put boobs and genitals in a logo to validate our philosophy. In fact, we think the genius of the Naturist Symbol is in how it suggests the values, simplicity, connection to nature, freedom, flow, without playing into the sensationalism people already project onto nudity. A wave can be a bum. Or it can be the sea, the wind, a hill, the body at rest. That’s powerful.
Also, a symbol isn’t supposed to reflect every personal nuance. It’s meant to create a shared visual identity across a wide and diverse movement. No single emblem can perfectly represent "your" naturism, or "our" naturism, or "their" naturism. Because naturism is incredibly broad spanning cultures, continents, values, generations, and comfort levels. The goal of the Naturist Symbol wasn’t to mirror individual beliefs, but to plant a flag for the collective. And honestly, we think it succeeds. It’s neutral, open-ended, and elegant, which leaves space for everyone to see themselves in it, without enforcing a narrow definition.
People expect a logo to already mean something when they look at it. But it doesn’t work that way. The meaning of a symbol is built over time through use, community adoption, and consistent visibility. Look at the peace symbol, the pride flag, or even the recycling triangle. None of them were self-explanatory on Day 1. But they gained power because people rallied behind them, explained them, used them everywhere, and made them mean something.
We don’t need a “better” symbol! We need a bolder movement to stand behind this one and give it weight.
Yes. I put it on the door to my house, and Iwill again when I move. I tattooed it on .y hip and I put the decal on my waterbottles. Also display the flag at the beach. To me, it represents naturism. We should have a symbol undsr which we unite as a movement.
I have a hat pin with the naturist symbol … for over a year now and not a single person has asked about it. I also have it on the back of a T-shirt, but the front addresses naturism directly.
I really did not give this any thought. Very interesting.
I don’t have a problem with a symbol per se, but I question what purpose it serves. If it is to help naturists identify other naturists, it seems to have succeeded in that. If it is to help naturists identify to non-naturists, it hasn’t moved that needle at all. I don’t see recognition by the INF (another symbol that effectively only signifies naturism to other naturists, being more or less unknown in the clothed world) helping advance this symbol as anything other than a secret handshake of sorts among people who know what it means.
The symbols of naturism to the non-naturist public need to be naturists, ourselves. Know us by our deeds and all that.
Secret handshake for nudists sounds fun. Trying to picture what that would be.
I found that the decision of which would be the symbol to be used was very arbitrary and restricted to voters in Twitter back in the day. I proposed a couple of options myself that didn’t get chosen. One of the was intended as an evolution of Dutch jeweller one with a genderless figure from the back.
Many governments already recognize the FKK family beach sign, which I can't seem to attach.
Personally, I wouldn't like to see this symbol adopted in any official way, at least not to globally signal naturism. That's not to take anything away from the creators or those who use it, but it just doesn't represent nudism for me. I understand it was designed to be low key, perhaps even covert but that doesn't represent my view of naturism in 2025. We should be putting the secret signals behind us and being more out there and direct. Being clandestine only perpetuates the stigma. This design does not instinctively give any clues to it's meaning except perhaps to those in the secret club.
Could I come up with something better? No, but I'm no expert with graphics. I recognise how difficult it is to signal nudity in a pictographic form but for me it really needs to be something more obvious, in the style of European road signage perhaps. I'm also not keen on the sun and beaches themes as this no longer represents the wider practice of nudism and conveys a very narrow and old fashioned message.
I confess to being a little disappointed how this particular design has been touted as 'the' official naturist symbol by online promotion, when it's far from that. Having said that. I'm sure this sign has value for those who want something more discreet. I know what it means should I encounter it but I just wouldn't use it myself. Maybe we need two versions?
I don't mind having a symbol that unites us under naturism, but dear god can we get one without eye-bleeding colors and something more than just a sun and waves? That doesn't represent naturism at all to me.
I'm not really sure if I'm a nudist or a naturist. I just know that if I don't have to wear clothes, I don't. I do fly a Grey, White, Green nudist flag on my hog. I think it's a little bolder tho it has only garnered two questions to which I simply said " it's a nudist flag ".
I agree with the other commenters that the "current" symbol is lacking. Sun and waves are enjoyed by textiles as much as naturists. Naturism is a lifestyle, but the sun and waves symbol only represents "free beaches", and only if you read somewhere that the waves are supposed to represent a bare buttocks. I always had the TNS big green "N" decal on my vehicle, which also had small print "The Naturist Society". One fellow thought I was supporting "naturalists" because I don't think he even heard of naturists, but it did start a conversation.
how can i get a t-shirt and sticker
I’d definitely wear a nudist (skinny dipper)flag pin in public as a way to be identified by fellow nudist in a non-nudist setting and possibly make new friends. however, the current flag is too easily confused with a Ukraine 🇺🇦 flag (currently trending). I’m just saying. Can we come up with something more distinctive?
In 1977, the space probe Voyager was sent out of the solar system to communicate with any potential aliens with a Golden Record designed by Carl Sagan and others. There is an anatomically correct image of a nude male and a nude female. Please use that image.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks the idea is fine, but the execution on this particular design is lacking. There's just too many lines, spaced too far apart, going in too many different directions in this design. It lacks a central focal point, and even though I know what it is it still takes a few seconds for my brain to assemble the component parts into a coherent whole. And I've looked at that design probably thousands of times. I'd like to see the same concept reworked into something a little more iconographic.
Howdy! I’m the rando that casually submitted the design to the contest without hardly an ounce of art/design training. It was offered as one idea, and it happened to resonate with the majority of those who voted. I agree with you! It could use some work! But I’m not the expert, and have never once suggested (publicly or privately) that it must remain exactly as I originally submitted it.
I’ve seen your work. Heck, I’ve bought some awesome stickers from your online store! Take a swing at an update! 🙂
Maybe you know another designer or two that can offer constructive feedback to dial it in to an even better version of what was originally submitted and recognized. (I’m thinking of all the different versions of the USA flag - it has evolved MANY times.)
Hi - apologies if I came off a little harsh there, I realize I had slipped back into art director mode and was giving notes as if I were looking at a design from an agency. Because I honestly thought this had originated with an agency. I missed the whole submission and voting phase, I don't spend much time of Twitter. So congratulations are definitely due - your design is genuinely much better than many designs I have seen from professionals. Also, thanks for buying stuff!
And honestly, as I said the concept is almost there. If I were giving feedback, I'd say give it a defined circular border to create visual focus. My suggestion would be to basically invert the colors on the sun. Have a yellow, circular background and let the lines of the sun be white, reaching out to the edge of the circle. I'd also think about making the yellow more orange, partly so it doesn't get confused with the now-ubiquitous Ukrainian flag, but also so the blue pops a little more. I think once you have that focus, the design will work really, really well.
Thanks again!
I'm having a difficult time understanding why it wouldn't be used. I think this is a tempest in a teapot.
There’s a strange assumption in the comments that the symbol should be more “explicitly nude” so that non-naturists instantly associate it with nudity. But… why? That’s not always helpful or even desirable. Nudity isn’t always the message. The message of naturism is not “Look, I’m naked.” The message is “Look, I’m free."
Naturism is about what nudity makes possible. It’s about what’s underneath the clothing, and what happens when we take it off. Not just physically, but socially, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually.
We’re not trying to make a brand that screams “naked!” to the world like a neon sign. That could easily be misunderstood, especially in a world that already hypersexualizes the human body. Subtlety is part of what protects naturism’s dignity. We don’t need to put boobs and genitals in a logo to validate our philosophy. In fact, we think the genius of the Naturist Symbol is in how it suggests the values, simplicity, connection to nature, freedom, flow, without playing into the sensationalism people already project onto nudity. A wave can be a bum. Or it can be the sea, the wind, a hill, the body at rest. That’s powerful.
Also, a symbol isn’t supposed to reflect every personal nuance. It’s meant to create a shared visual identity across a wide and diverse movement. No single emblem can perfectly represent "your" naturism, or "our" naturism, or "their" naturism. Because naturism is incredibly broad spanning cultures, continents, values, generations, and comfort levels. The goal of the Naturist Symbol wasn’t to mirror individual beliefs, but to plant a flag for the collective. And honestly, we think it succeeds. It’s neutral, open-ended, and elegant, which leaves space for everyone to see themselves in it, without enforcing a narrow definition.
People expect a logo to already mean something when they look at it. But it doesn’t work that way. The meaning of a symbol is built over time through use, community adoption, and consistent visibility. Look at the peace symbol, the pride flag, or even the recycling triangle. None of them were self-explanatory on Day 1. But they gained power because people rallied behind them, explained them, used them everywhere, and made them mean something.
We don’t need a “better” symbol! We need a bolder movement to stand behind this one and give it weight.
Yes. I put it on the door to my house, and Iwill again when I move. I tattooed it on .y hip and I put the decal on my waterbottles. Also display the flag at the beach. To me, it represents naturism. We should have a symbol undsr which we unite as a movement.