Darwin fish
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Darwin_fish".

The traditional ichthys symbol

The ichthys symbol, or "Jesus fish", typically used to proclaim an affiliation with or affinity for Christianity, is frequently a subject of satire, especially when adorning the bumpers or trunks of automobiles. Most such ornaments are adhesive badges made of chrome-colored plastic. The following are some examples of these satires.

Darwin fish

A Darwin fish is an ichthys with stylized legs

The Darwin fish is an ichthys symbol with "evolved" legs and feet attached and often with the word Darwin inside (like the ΙΧΘΥΣ or Jesus found in some Christian versions). It symbolizes the theory of evolution, for which Charles Darwin laid the foundation, in contrast with Creationism, which is often associated with certain sects of Christianity. The Darwin fish bears a stylized resemblance to Tiktaalik, which is a major example of a transitional fossil. Related to the Darwin fish is a fish with legs, the word 'evolve', and a hand that is holding a wrench.

Rhetorical scholar Thomas Lessl has conducted a questionnaire survey of users of the Darwin fish emblem. Based on their responses, he interprets the symbol as scientific "blackface," a parody that is one part mockery and one part imitation. While users frequently explain the symbol as a rebuke against Creationism, they also attach religious meaning to it as well. In this latter sense, the emblem gives voice to a mythologized interpretation of biological evolution in which the material development of biological organisms operates as a metaphor for cultural Progress.^[1]

The Darwin fish has led to a minor arms race in bumper stickers. A design was made with a larger "Jesus fish" eating the Darwin fish. Sometimes, the larger fish contains letters that spell the word "Truth." A further step shows two fish, one with legs labelled "I evolved", the other without legs labelled "You didn't". Another variant is the "ixnay" fish (a parody of "ΙΧΘΥΣ"). Other variants depict an "Evolution" or "Darwin" fish swallowing an "ΙΧΘΥΣ", "Jesus" or "Truth" fish; another version has a "Science" fish swallowing a "Myth" fish.

Origin

In 1983, two friends involved in the southern California atheist and freethought movements, Al Seckel and John Edwards, co-created the Darwin fish design, which was first used on a freethought leaflet for Atheists United in 1984. It was then sold by Atheists United and other freethought groups, which got free permission from Seckel and Edwards throughout the 80s, to be used on bumper stickers and t-shirts.^[2] Chris Gilman, a Hollywood prop maker, manufactured the first plastic car ornaments in 1990, and started Evolution Design. Evolution design moved to Austin, Texas in 1990. Gilman claims to have come up with it independently.^[3]. (Evolution Design's fish faced right, while Seckel and Edwards' design faced left, like the Christian symbol.) When the emblem evolved into a million-dollar business, Evolution Design began threatening to sue creators of look-alike and derivative products (like a Jewish "gefilte" fish) on the grounds of trademark violation. Seckel in turn sued Evolution Design for copyright infringement. Seckel and Edwards did not seek royalties, but wanted Evolution Design to allow free use of the design by anyone authorized by them. Seckel and Edwards felt that in the spirit of parody and free speech, their design predated Gilman's claimed origin of 1990. The suit was settled when it became apparent that Seckel and Edwards had not copyrighted their design and allowed it to fall into public domain.

Darwin Awards fish

The Darwin Awards fish is a "dead fish" floating belly-up, with the words Darwin Awards inside. Its humor derives from the fact that it shows how evolution works -- the less fit die out. A dead fish leaves fewer offspring.

Edible fish

One parody of the symbol is a fish with the word "Gefilte" written in letters stylized to resemble Hebrew letters. This refers to gefilte fish, a common dish in Jewish cuisine; used on an automobile, it indicates that the driver of the car is Jewish.

Another parody, most commonly seen in areas populated by those of Norwegian descent, is a fish containing the word "Lutefisk".

Yet another parody on this fish, shows only the lower tail fin, and inside the fish reads "n'Chips", a play on "Fish and Chips".

"Sushi" written inside the ichtys is one more variant.

Star Trek

The "Trek Fish", designed by Eugene Roddenberry, the son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. His motivations for doing so were as follows:

Over a year ago I came up with the idea of a TREK FISH while noticing all the religious fish symbols on everyone's car. I notice there were a number of variations that preached "Creationism" and other that supported "Darwinism". I felt that the two were in conflict and a happy medium was needed. TREK FISH does not preach or support one over the other. To me, it simply says we can continue to discuss our origins but, as a species, should focus on the future.^{citation needed}

Its design invokes a starship as seen on the program with the legend "TREK" inside.

Pastafarianism

The FSM logo is a parody of the Ichthys or "Jesus Fish". It contains the basic body shape of the Ichthys, two eye stalks, five "noodly appendages", and the initials "FSM" for Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Advocates of the Pastafarianism parody religion, which was created in 2005 to protest the decision by the Kansas Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design, have designed their own version, with the Flying Spaghetti Monster's characteristic "noodly appendages" and eye stalks. One design features the above mentioned "Jesus fish eating Darwin fish" with the Flying Spaghetti Monster in turn attacking the "Jesus fish".

In popular culture

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2007)

• The After Eden comics have several references to the various fish.
• On IndieTits, "Yelling Bird" (a dickcissel) roots for "the dickfish", "><DICK>"; and on Questionable Content, Dora has a "<DICK><" shirt. Both are written by Jeph Jacques.
• A Darwin fish is shown in the film The Last Supper.
• On Wildboyz, Steve-O has a tattoo on his right arm of an ichthys with horns, with the word "Satan" inside it.
• The film Saved! features a close-up of the gefilte fish on a Jewish student's car.
• On Futurama, after finding religion in "Hell is Other Robots", Bender puts an ichthys-like symbol on the Planet Express Ship which says "ROBOT."
• On My Name Is Earl, Crabman thinks Jesus is mad at him for putting a "Darwin Fish" on his car after a painting of Jesus bangs against the wall. It is explained that it is only because there is a hole in the wall from a lamp being thrown.
• Enjoi skateboards has a signature Jerry Hsu deck with "JERRY" inside the fish

Other fish

These parodies have spawned a number of niche markets for fish symbols. Muslim shark^[4] and Buddhist examples exist, and a number of non-religious examples have proliferated from political, technical and other fields.^[5]

Supporters of Linux have sometimes used a shark-like fish labeled "Linux," sometimes shown consuming a "Microsoft" fish.

Fans of Shaquille O'Neal created a fish labeled SHAQ consuming a much smaller KOBE fish after the Lakers superstar was forced out of Los Angeles and signed with the Miami Heat

References