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What does Stan’s symbol mean?

First of all, thanks to @marypsue for listening to my ramblings and giving some feedback about this a few days ago and to @eregyrn-falls for talking about Alex’s Q&A, which reminded me to write it up and post it.

Warning: this is going to be long. Sorry.

One of the things that I’ve always hoped would get an explanation from Alex (but possibly never will?) is the meaning behind the symbol on Stan’s fez/the Cipher Wheel.

First, a bit of a tangent, but I hope a productive one: in GF fanfic, a common issue when Bill and Stan appear together in a fic is that we never canonically heard Bill’s nickname for Stan (assuming he would have given Stan one, which, given Bill’s character, seems like a safe bet). Fic authors usually get around this by having Bill call Stan “Fez,” which makes sense given that’s where his symbol is and it’s a pretty distinctive element of his appearance.

BUT.

But Bill doesn’t call Dipper “ballcap,” or Mabel “sweater,” or Soos “t-shirt,” even though that’s where their symbols are found. Their nicknames are based on what the symbol IS, and the symbols (at least roughly?) represent who they are as characters.

So, ultimately, thinking about what Bill’s nickname for Stan might be sort of helps clarify what Stan’s symbol might mean vis-à-vis his character. Ahem. Back to the symbol.

The clearest direct mention of the symbol is in Journal 3, when Ford writes that Stan’s fez is from Filbrick’s  membership in the “Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel.” It’s totally possible this is all there is to it, it’s a funny fish symbol. Alex’s old DeviantArt account is reportedly holymackerel, so it’s possible it’s just something he thought was funny and that’s that.

But, we all know how much Alex loves to misdirect people – almost as much as he likes to have multiple layers of mysteries and meaning in GF. So I think it’s more likely this is just a superficial meaning for Stan’s symbol.

Looking at the symbol, there could be a few different interpretations, so I’ll present the three most interesting ones I came up with, in order of what I think is the likelihood it’s the real meaning of the symbol.

First, another look at the symbol as it appears on the fez:

Now what if we do this:

 Looks like an eye, right? Just one eye?

The least likely theory is that the symbol has something to do with Stan’s character being connected to Bill’s in some way. It’s a cool interpretation, considering how important the idea of the “beast with just one eye” was, and the fact that, as Mr. Mystery, Stan wore an eyepatch (and so had just one eye visible). If you’re a subscriber to the Same Coin theory, this interpretation might work for that.

I personally don’t think this is it, though. So let’s turn the symbol this way:

Notice the symbol in canon art is always represented with these proportions. Now what does it look like? A bit like the portal casting a shadow? Who lived (figuratively and literally) in the shadow of the portal for 30 years? Yeah.

Stan, with his long-standing self-esteem and self-worth issues, saw himself as just “part of a dynamic duo,” essentially Ford’s shadow, not capable of accomplishing anything on his own. So, this interpretation is a little more likely to me, and I headcanon that Bill’s nickname for Stan would be something like “Shadow,” because it’s not only thematically appropriate, it’s snide and hurtful.

But this still doesn’t seem like it’d be an appropriate symbol for Stan’s character. After all, reductively thinking of him as Ford’s shadow would only represent most people’s (and his own self-) perception of Stan in the first (admittedly long) part of his character arc. So what represents the culmination of his character arc?

Let’s turn the symbol one more time:

Look familiar?

Well, first of all, there are some similar-looking symbols in the history museum in SotBE:

And on the ur-Cipher Wheel in Mabelcorn:

I personally don’t think it’s related to the symbol that’s similar to the Freemason symbol, because that seems on-the-nose and superficial to be on a secret society fez (though a cute reference), and more related to Dipper’s character than Stan’s. I think the other symbol gives a clue as to its meaning, since it’s also incredibly similar to Stan’s symbol’s shape.

…what legendary bird is often represented in this shape? And the shape on the fez? Wings upraised in a circular shape?

So…my best guess is that this is a simplified, stylized version of one of the best symbols for Stan’s character: a phoenix. The imagery of Stan burning is present throughout the series, and of course, Stan is literally immolated and reborn in the finale. I absolutely headcanon that this is what Stan’s symbol really means. (But I don’t think Bill would ever call Stan “Phoenix,” do you?)

All this is just speculation, though. You’d have to have actually been in the writer’s room (or Alex’s brain), or have done a lot of research into ancient symbols (in so many cultures and historical contexts, seriously – Egyptian symbolism, indigenous American tribal symbolism, secret society symbolism, alchemy symbols, etc) to suss out what everything related to Stan and his symbol (the flag/banners for the Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel, the first symbol in comparison to the second symbol – both work for the Phoenix symbolism, the color symbolism in the series, etc) might mean.

It could be the Phoenix, it definitely fits, but personally? I think the origins of the design are closer to the Shriner’s emblem than that, especially if you look at the original design on Stan’s fez (which got changed due to the similarities between the two designs: the Shriners are considered controversial or offensive in some areas, presumably due to the Islamic and Arabic symbolism being used by predominately white Americans, though there are Muslim Freemasons. Christians have similar qualms with Shriners, though this is mostly due to Islamophobia from the Shriners use of Islamic and Arabic symbolism. I’ve heard that in some areas, there’s either a related group or an aesthetically similar group that’s actually violent, which is why the symbol got changed, though I can’t find anything confirming this) and take into account the clues that the Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel was based on the Shriners (and by extension, the Masons). The Shriner Temple in the Cipher Hunt, the flag in the Mystery Shack, and the fact that Stan mentions “the guys at the lodge” in Legend of the Gobblewonker all point to the ROHM being, at the very least, similar to the Shriners (perhaps the Masons as well, but Ford mentioned in Journal 3 that the Masons do or at least did exist in the Gravity Falls canon)

So what does the Shriners emblem mean?

Taken from the Shriner’s website, “The scimitar stands for the backbone of the fraternity, its members.The two claws are for the Shriners fraternity and its philanthropy.The sphinx stands for the governing body of the Shriners.The five-pointed star represents the thousands of children helped by the philanthropy each year.The emblem also bears the phrase ‘Robur et Furor,’ which means ‘Strength and Fury.’“

Doesn’t sound exactly like the symbol on the fez, but brotherhood, strength, and fury sure do sound like Stan.

However, while the Shriners is the most likely origin of the symbol on Stan’s fez, I don’t think the symbol on Stan’s fez actually means anything.

Even Ford doesn’t have a name for the symbol, and not only has he been in contact with that symbol the longest (the fez originally belonged to Filbrick, Ford grew up looking at that thing: it was probably the second symbol he recognized, right after his own) but both he and Stanley knew that it was Stan’s symbol the second Ford drew the zodiac.

It should also be noted that Ford gives a brief description of the nonliteral symbols, but not for the one on Stan’s fez.

So, we all know the zodiac fails. We all know that Bill turns most of the zodiacs into tapestries. He leaves Ford alive (because he needs information) and he leaves Dipper and Mabel alive (because he plans on torturing them to get Ford to talk). But why Stanley? Ford had presumably given no indication that if Stanley were to be tortured, Ford would reveal anything useful in exchange for his brother’s life (though we can assume that this is, in fact, true based on the fact that he managed not to reveal the same information about Dipper and Mabel for several days, among other factors).

Simple: Bill underestimated Stanley Pines.

Stanley is undoubtedly the most important player in the events leading up to Bill’s defeat, without him it would have been impossible. Bill’s biggest mistake was not paying more attention to Stanley. Bill’s biggest weakness was that Stanley’s symbol is just that. Stanley’s symbol. Underestimated and overlooked.

If the fez symbol had a meaning, Hirsch wouldn’t have so readily changed it. It doesn’t matter what the symbol on the fez actually is.

Bill never calls him by a nickname.  Ford never says what the symbol means. Because neither of them have to.

Filbrick originally owned the fez, implied to be from or at least inspired by the Shriners/Masons all Shriners are Masons, but not all Masons are Shriners. Both Stanley and Stanford mean “stony field,” and the Masons started out as a guild of, well, masonry workers: people who worked with stone.

Filbrick was only expecting one child. He got twins and named them both after the fez. He gave Ford the fez eventually, but Stan’s the twin who actually wore it.

Because the symbol means Stanley Pines.

It’s literally Stanley’s symbol.

I don’t disagree with the-ford-twin’s conclusions here. I think it’s a cool point that the redesigned symbol still bears a resemblance to the original Shriner’s symbol, highly abstracted and turned on its side.

(Small note: etymologically, Stanley is “stony clearing”, while Stanford is “stony ford”, i.e. a shallow place for crossing a river or stream.  Mildly interesting, especially the “place of crossing” aspect of Ford’s name in relation to his construction of the portal and fate of crossing dimensions.  But, it still leaves the main point intact, that they both have “stone” names.  This is a case where I honestly doubt those names were chosen for those deeper meanings or connections to Masonry… I think. We know where the name “Stan” comes from to start with. But it *is* interesting that we also wound up with “Mason” as a name in the Pines family.  As Alex himself said in the past, he wasn’t hiding occult symbolism in the show, he was putting it out in plain sight.)

I mean, the fez is absolutely based on the Shriners’ fez.  That’s clearly Alex’s inspiration; indeed, he seems to own one, or at least has been photographed in one.  I think it’s pretty clear that the Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel is the GF-verse equivalent of the Shriners, a fraternal organization that uses some of the same iconography.  (Whether the Shriners themselves exist in the GF-verse is really a moot point.  Perhaps they don’t.  Yes, the Masons exist, and just as in the real world, perhaps some Masons belong to the ROHM, and some don’t.)

But the fez itself isn’t the Cipher Wheel symbol.   The symbol *on* the fez is what’s significant; it’s what was painted on a cave wall a thousand years ago.  And just as the symbol used by the Shriners on their fez has a meaning ascribed to it by the organization, I have to think that, in-story, the ROHM attaches some sort of meaning to that symbol.

So just going back to the question asked at the start of the original post: what does the ROHM think that symbol is, or means?  And is there a name for it?  If someone wants to write a fic or a comic in which Bill refers to Stan by the symbol name rather than his real name, what would they use, if not “Fez”?

(Though, to be clear: it really doesn’t bother me when I encounter folks using “Fez”. I take that as similar to Bill calling Ford “Sixer” sometimes – it’s a nickname that makes references on several levels at once.  “Sixer” is Ford, the Six-Fingered Hand; but of course, also Stan’s childhood nickname for Ford, in a bit of spooky foreshadowing, just as Ford himself chose that symbol for himself long before he ever saw the Wheel. “Fez” is one of Stan’s most recognizable visual attributes, and as part of the ROHM regalia it’s “connected” to the Wheel symbol it bears.)

No, canon doesn’t give us an answer.  And that’s okay.  The writing’s treatment of the various symbols and the way Bill uses them indicates a certain flexibility. The fun for those writing fanfic or comics comes in creating interesting interpretations of the symbolic meanings, in cases where we haven’t been told those in canon.

To me, the symbol on the fez has always looked like a fish about to eat whatever that dot is (highly stylized, of course).  Having thought of it that way, I always just connected it to the ROHM’s literal name – a “fish” hieroglyph symbolizing the mackerel.  

And there’s at least one fanfic I’ve run across in which Bill refers to Stan as “Hungry Fish” (I think the hat-tip here goes to @icefeels in her One Sword stories?), which I quite liked for the ways in which it seems to fit Stan.  He’s a “hungry” character, but also, there’s a predatory symbolism there that fits the con-man part of him as well.

Which just goes to show, I feel, that it probably isn’t possible to find a “right” answer – but it’s very possible for people to come up with fairly interesting answers. 

I always thought the symbol looked like a pacman fish. It sorta represents how Stan was a fish out of water

Before he became a big fish in a small pond

Mackerels can also apparently represent abundance,

Adaptability,

And intuition.

Congrats to Baxter for being the only person in the hotel who can do more than basic math.

HEY

ZOOM THE FUCK IN

BEELZEBUB?!?! FRIENDS WITH VEROSIKA?!?!?!

Let's not forget that Bee has said that she can "taste the flavors" of the people at parties, and had to get Loona when she sensed that Blitzø wasn't okay at the hound party.

Considering Bee's a total party animal, why would she have passed up the chance to go to a party in the living world on Halloween?

Because it would've put a bad taste in her mouth.

I do not understand why there's antis hopping on the helluva boss pride month artwork.

Like it's such a random ass thing to hate on, like did the sexualities hurt you or something? In the grand scheme of things it''s just a cool piece of artwork that happens to be canon, idk why the antis are going after it like it means a whole lot to them. Like if you're going that far just admit you hate helluva boss for some reason and move on, it ain't as deep as some of you all are making it out to be.

You know we were all so caught up in the Marthaberry bliss

I think we forgot about someone(s)

What happened to Ralphie and their kids?

It is possible they seperated after coming to Hell but it is just as likely Martha and Ralphie have an open marriage/polycule situation going on with Mayberry since he was fine with her having other partners before. For all we know they were one big happy family with the rest of them off-screen when Blitz knocked on the door lol.

Personally I like the idea they went to Heaven instead, further continuing the Hellaverse's trend of making it unclear who gets into/deserves to go to Heaven.

I like to imagine that Ralphie took the kids and integrated into Cannibal Town.