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:

• In 2008, the South Sound Breastfeeding Network of the state of Washington, United States, featured the symbol on a "Breastfeeding Welcome Here" campaign.^[8]
• In 2009, the symbol was agreed to be posted at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Winter Park, Florida, United States, following a complaint by a restaurant customer that the manager of the restaurant had unlawfully asked her to cover her baby's head while breastfeeding.^[9]

See also

• List of international common standards

References

External links

• Matt Daigle Biography