The international breastfeeding symbol is a symbol that depicts a woman breastfeeding a baby. It was designed by Matt Daigle, a graphic artist and father, in response to a contest hosted by Mothering magazine.[1] The winner was chosen in November 2006 out of a total of more than 500 entries.[2] Daigle, who says his wife and son were the inspiration behind the symbol, released the copyright to the symbol to the public domain.
Increasing cultural diversity and personal mobility have motivated a desire for universal modes of communication.[3] The international breastfeeding symbol was created in the style of the AIGA symbol signs commonly seen in public places. Such symbols are intended to be understood at a glance by most people without written descriptions explaining what they mean.[4]
The international breastfeeding symbol was created to address the perceived problem of not having a universally accepted and understood symbol for breastfeeding available for use in public places. The modern iconography representing infancy usually involves artificial feeding or soothing objects, like a nurser bottle icon or pacifier symbol.[5] Nursing rooms have often used a baby bottle symbol to indicate what they are instead of a symbol of a mother nursing a child. It has been suggested that use of the symbol may be helpful in shifting the bottle-feeding cultural paradigm toward the biological norm of breastfeeding.[6]
In July 2007, the International Breastfeeding Symbol site, a website dedicated to the new symbol, was launched.[7]
Examples of uses of the symbol include: