Hello and welcome back to my channel Thedosians, today I'm discussing the symbolism and patterns all around Thedas' lore and cultures. Symbolism is an important key to help understand and differentiate each faction from the other, such as the Templar Order and the Seekers of Truth puts them together and makes the emblem of the Inquisition. But besides the point of those two combining, what is behind that type of representation? Is there something deeper? Some hidden message the common eye may mistake? #illuminati
Let's put some of these into-parts or series, since this will be a long video in general, I thought if I could get into the subjects one-by-one I might not miss some because I would make a video regarding them as a whole. In this video we will discover logos, and understand their potential backstory, along with some tinfoils here and there. The next video, will be the understanding of art in concept and even promo art distributed from BioWare, as well as loading screens and behind the scenes in their own form, maybe even the murals. Third video would include statues, which that representation is always going to be strong in this case of Dragon Age's symbolism, example, the Red Lyrium Idol, is looking at statues or figures of beings scattered around Thedas. And Lastly, I will put the the remaining category I put these into are random symbols belonging in-game, maybe has some deeper representation, but no basis of understanding it whatsoever, which I will get onto later.
Logos:
Now obviously this is the longest of content in this category because logos are important. I tried to separate them into groups just because it's a lengthy overview of these symbols and what they represent or 'could' represent, so try to keep up....
Groups-
Chantry:
Let's start with the Chantry. It's the logo most known for it's influence in a lot of orders regarding other organizations that revolve around the Chantry and the Chant of Light, just the Andrastian faith as a whole.
Now we are given the logo of what looks to be a Sun. Though that representation does not go far in the beliefs or their faith. For instance, in the Chant of Light's verses, the sun is represented as an object:
"As the sun rose on the army of the faithful, The gates of the city parted and the legion descended upon the land As the shadow of a distant storm darkens the sun." -Apotheosis 2
If the sun just originates as the time of day that a battle was occuring throughout Andraste's rebellion with the Imperium. Maybe that's the only extent behind this logo? Just no representation?
There could also be the sense that a Sun shed light upon the lands, in which, the Chant of Light could represent shedding light on the faithful, representing the Chantry's mission as a whole. And I almost feel a little sad that this could be the only extension of their logo.
Although there have been some tinfoils out there resembling this logo to represent the former representation of the Maker, as he stood before all things in Creation. And lingering the connection of Elgar'nan overthrowing his Father, the Sun. So that could be into speculation for the Chantry beyond the Veil as well, but that might be more than what we expected. In the next logo subject I combine the two in their representation because it seems too similar to differentiate between them...
Circle of Magi:
So we know that the Circle of Magi was the place utilized to keep mages under control governed by the Chantry. When people who are first acquired to any essence towards magic ability, are sent to these areas to be quote on quote 'teach their skills', which we obviously know that isn't all true and right. But lets talk about the logo, what the heck is up with that?
Now obviously looking at it symbolizes a circle, resembling the Circle of Magi, where all mages are banded together in the similar cause of arcane and knowledge of magic. But what always made me raise my eyebrows is the two ends that stick out. It almost looks like Qunari horns, or I'm getting crazy.
Now the only connection that I've seen so far is from the Forgotten One called Daern'thal. Daern'thal happens to have this owned this staff called Pyre of the Forgotten. Now to a lot of people it has some resemblance of the circle of magi heraldry behind the figuring on this staff.
"The Forgotten Ones belong to the ancient Elvehn Pantheon, but their names were lost after the Great Betrayal. Their worship continued in the shadows, despite efforts to stamp it out in the old Dalish kingdom. This staff belonged to a priest of those gods, specifically Daern'thal. - Description on Pyre of the Forgotten
This staff's model has also repeated a lot in Dragon Age 2, and you can get the schematics in the war mission engaging in Venatori agents in Vyrantium in Inquisition. It could be a retcon of just modelling a staff one for the other. Yet I like to believe this isn't the case. If Daernthal is a Forgotten One, and they are technically banished from the Elvehn Pantheon, Daernthal might have had something to do with a Circle. Maybe he was trying to control magic when the Veil wasn't present? What is really bad so he created one? Who knows, but that's the only connection we have so far, and I'd like to see more on that subject in the next game..
Bringing my point of the connection to the Chantry's logo, it all comes down to the Circle's heraldry of in the accepted school of magic; Spirit, Primal, Creation and Entropy. All of them have their classes to play and rules to understand about their laws of magic, which comes to mind where did these logos originate from? And the Chantry's logo completely resembles the last school of magic known as Entropy.
"Entropy is the opposing force of Creation; for this reason it is often called the School of Negation. Nothing lives without death. Time inevitably brings an end to all things in the material world, and yet in this ending is the seed of a beginning. A river may flood its banks, causing havoc, but bring new life to its floodplain. The fire that burns a forest ushers in new growth. And so it is with entropic magic that we manipulate the forces of erosion, decay, and destruction to create anew." - First Enchanter Josephus
The Chantry's logo resembles the destruction of Creation, for it must bring things to anew the world of Thedas. A 'reborn' if you will, which I mean, sounds pretty deep that the Chantry's logo really represents destruction and chaos within the world rather than a 'light' to the world.
"To you, my second-born, I grant this gift: In your heart shall burn An unquenchable flame All-consuming, and never satisfied.
From the Fade I crafted you, And to the Fade you shall return" -Threnodies 5:7.
Templar Order:
Moving on, we have the guards or 'enforcers' in the Circle, known as the Templar order, who are known for their abilities of being against magic.
The Templar heraldry is a stylized representation of a flaming sword. The flames represent purification, just as Andraste was purified by flame upon her martyrdom at the height of the first Exalted March. The sword is an emblem of mercy in Chantry symbolism because Hessarian ran Andraste through with his sword to save her from a slow and painful death.
The sword was also a part of Visus constellation; it is said that the star that marks the point of its blade only appeared in the night sky after Andraste's death. Which I will explain for the Inquistion later.
The exact logo design varies to at least six variations. The sword is pointing up with two small flames on either side. So I don't know if that has to do with the art style they were replicating to make variations, or maybe the hierarchy of the Knight-Commanders within each Circle or location they were in. It might just be for art purposes in general...
(Red Templars):
On another note we have the Red Templars. Who's force was obviously coerced with the original Templars, yet corrupted from the form of Red lyrium's aftermath. They also share the same logo, so honestly there's little to distinguish from them except the difference the corrupted essence of lyrium they take.
Seekers of Truth:
The Seekers are the private Chantry group that is directed from the Divine in Val Royeaux. They check the power within the Templar Order, and also protect the Chantry from potential threats such as cultists.
Being a secretive group, their 'all-seeing eye' is the insignia of the Seekers of Truth. It represents the Seekers' role as investigators and inspectors of the Chantry. Uncovering the hidden practice of magic and seeking to stamp out its corruption, even within their own ranks. They also resemble the Constellation Visus in which comes all down to the next group we all were a leader of...
Inquisition:
Now as I previously mentioned in the beginning of this video that these previous two orders who basically are the logos of the Inquisition combined. There seems to be a lingering rumor out there that some people believe that the Seekers of Truth and the Templar Order, they made the first Inquisition.
That is completely false, in fact, when the Chantry was still uprising, templars were known as the Inquisition and combed the land in search of all dangers to humanity—whether they came in the form of blood mages, abominations, cultists or heretics. It only split up when the Chantry convinced the Inquisition to unite under the banner of their common faith. So in 1:20 Divine, by the Nevarran Accord, the Inquisition was divided in two groups: the Seekers of Truth and the Templar Order, with the purpose of the Order becoming that of guardian and warden rather than a hunter.
What we see in this logo is the combining forces of two orders together, once separated during the ages, but then combined back as they once supposed to be now in 4:21 Dragon. As we know, the Inquisition resembles the Chantry, Seekers, and the Templar sword.
"A sword to pierce the sun With iron shield she defends the faithful Let chaos be undone" -Victoria 1:3
Now the Inquisition's logo resembles the Constellation I mentioned back called Visus:
"Known as “the Watchful Eye” in common parlance, this constellation had great significance to the ancient Alamarri and Cirianne peoples of southern Thedas. The story goes that the Lady of the Skies opened one eye so that the light from her gaze could lead her people safely from the Frostbacks. When Andraste’s armies marched north from their ancestral lands to wage war upon Tevinter, they were guided by the Eye, and it became the Maker’s gaze—not the Lady's— leading them to victory. The sword was added later; it is said that the star that marks the point of its blade only appeared in the night sky after Andraste’s death. The early Inquisition took Visus as the symbol of their holy calling when they joined the Andrastian faith: the Eye representing both their search for maleficarum and the Maker’s judgment upon their actions. When the Inquisition ended and became the Seekers of Truth and the Templar Order, the templars took the sword while the Seekers retained the eye." - Sister Oran Petarchius
So, for the Inquisition to not only resemble just for the Chant, but for the Avvar as well does not come to a surprise since Andraste's husband Maferath was Avvarian as well as our encounter in Jaws of Hakkon with Ameridan restraining a rein-birth of Hakkon Wintersbreath onto a dragon. So honestly the Chantry could just come back to it's original human tribal roots, in which, we might see someday, hopefully...
The Grey Wardens:
The Grey Wardens are a warrior Order that seek out the corruption and end to the destruction of Blights. They resolve not in political affairs, for their only duty is to serve to kill darkspawn and the threat of an Archdemon when they awaken.
The heraldry of the Grey Wardens in the Tabletop RPG, is defined as the "Griffon Rampant", where an argent griffon segreant on azure. But some of the Grey Warden Commanders seem to have their own heraldry as well with two griffons most noticeably. The blazon for that charge might be rendered as "two griffons addorsed, wings elevated, maintaining a branch fesswise". There are also other variations of the Order's heraldry looking most noticeably in the ancient Warden Tower not only showing the Joining's process, but showing the Chant's symbol as well. Or as we know now, the Sun is a representation of chaos. Maybe signifying that drinking from the cup means drinking into the destruction of chaos, or the Blight. But again, speculation....
Antivan Crows:
They are also known as House of Crows, are an elite organization of thieves, spies, and assassins which are renowned throughout Thedas. The Crows basically rule to Antivan land, where it helps their society as a whole, regarding contracts to never being broken.
As for their logo, it almost looks like the Dalish-mask logo, maybe even using the same design. But as for its deeper meaning, Sten asks to Zevran, who is a Crow, why they are called Crows, Zevran replies that he heard at one point they were considered being called the Kestrels, but claims that the name "didn't sing, didn't dance".
Honestly, the Crows logo resembles much to what Zevran calls the Kestrels, they are falcon-like birds that have a little distinct blackness under their eyes. So kudos to BioWare creating that design.
Now besides these groups, lets look into the other side of groups that originate from race and potentially location:
Elvehn:
(Dalish):
The Dalish are the elvehn nomadic group that segregate from those in other societies, especially humans and other shemlen. Noticeably one of their heraldry comes down to the first rebels known as the Emerald Knights.
Their first heraldry is know as a bow and what looks like to be a long fern in between it. Now BioWare have reused this logo many times for the elvehn, but that's not surprising since most elves after the Veil created now are from ancestors of the Emerald Knights. I honestly have no clue to what this symbolizes except that most of the Emerald Knights probably fought a lot with bow and arrow. It seems an easy weapon to create from forests using wood and other material, and fought with the forces who opposed them while riding with hallas and alongside their wolf-companions.
Despite that heraldry, the Dalish are also known for another. They have a mask looking logo in which, reminds me of Orlais and their common trend with wearing masks. Although I cannot speak for what's behind this except maybe that the Dalish's vallaslin might have to do with this. Where it resembles a 'mask' of what they once were in ancient times, although as ironic as what that represents. The vallaslin is also tattoed around their facial features looking like a mask, so it could just be behind their unique difference between other elvehn.
Some other clans have their own heraldry, such as the Sabrae clan which resembles their respected animal, the halla.
(Alienages):
Now the alienages don't really have much logos since we really haven't been to many, Kirkwalls alienage almost just resembles Kirkwall, which I will get onto later.
Denerim's alienage resembles much of what looks like a tree, or most noticeably, the Vhenandahl. The ancestral tree that symbolizes the People, or the elves. In which, they hold this tree in high regard. In most elvehn, the tree represents some of the gods in the Elvehn Pantheon, like Mythal and Andruil for instance. And it's purpose of the tree is to bring their People together and restore what was once lost and destroyed.
(Ancient Elvehn?):
Okay, now this is a recent one that was flying around reddit lately and I felt it was necessary to put in my video, let's talk about this logo.
This logo is seen around a lot, it's seen most in Kirkwall, including the Black Emporium, to the Deep roads, and now, here we go, right on the bottom of Fen'Harel's statue, in the Temple of Mythal.
It resembles much of the features of an elf, where it brings out a face, and what looks to be elvehn ears. Some fans belief this to be Fen'Harel's agent society, where they secretively existed throughout the ages, and BioWare took terms to subtlety bring this logo in the realm of Thedas.
Other's say it might just be the link of all ancient elvehn, the immortal elves who lived when the Veil wasn't present. To show that their existence lingers on.
Most recently people brought this to attention in reddit where you see this logo in Valammar in doing the Varric personal quest with Bianca. Bianca is reported to have studies of red lyrium, and to this extent of the teaser trailer, she might just be. If you want to look into it more, check the link down below. But that's all I will bring into this video now....
Qunari:
Now the Qunari don't have much except for their own force of the Par Vollen.
(Par Volen):
The Par Vollen's logo just looks nothing to correlate them to anything except themselves. In other cases, some fans believe it too looks like a formation of a tree. In which goes beyond speculation of maybe referring to Mythal's representation. That she could be the creator of this race, due to their involvement of the Deep Roads in Trespasser with Mythal's statues being in the midst of the architecture. Although highly tinfoil, it's nice to delve into that factor...
Dwarven:
Let's talk about dwarves, most of their logos just come from a feature of what looks to be a dwarf, that not only comes down to their race, but their art style as well. Most of the logos to me just seem to symbolize their Paragons, and mostly revolve around their race's features as a whole.
Where the Carta resemble much of the features of a Dwarven, to the Legion of the Dead doing the same trend. The Shaperate use a book, as well as the diamonds might be referring to lyrium. But the Dwarven merchant's guild is the one that surprises me since there is a huge trend of similarities of Kirkwall in most things connected to Kirkwall in general, in which, I will discuss later on.
Humans:
Lasty, let's discuss the humans, where their own logos signify from tribes, to royal lines.
(Avvar):
Let's discuss the origination of the human tribes, especially Avvar, now most that I recover just basically represent their gods.
Such as Lady of the Skies resembling to what looks of a eagle or a hawke. Behind what looks to be a white circle, or maybe a moon, since the lady of the Skies represents the moon according to legends from the Avvar.
Hakkon Wintersbreath's logo just looks what to be a snowflake, probably to winter, and axes to resemble battles he took over other gods, like Mountain Father Korth.
Speaking of Korth, his logo is what looks like a man holding up a mountain, almost like what resembles that could be a Titan? Please? I need clues BioWare...
(Family Crests):
Now in regards towards family crests I can't really speak for themselves since each family has their own history down to them. They basically resemble themselves, and there isn't really much theories that branch out for them, but if you have a theory of one, comment below!
That's basically all I will discuss on logos for this video, as for locations logos I would put into the next video, since that will be a lot of content to discuss. By all means, if you know any more, comment below post some theories for more and if I missed some let me know, but I specifically put some others into different categories coming right up as well....
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