Tripartite Categorization of Signs.

The science of signs is a combination of the work of two separate men. Ferdinand de Saussure, who created semiology, and Charles Peirce, who created semiotics. Whilst Saussure described Signifier and Signified, C.S. Pierce came up with three categories of signs. Indexical, Iconic and Symbolic.

Indexical signs never show what they represent but rather have a relationship with it. For instance a picture of someone with tears streaming down their face is indexical of that person being upset. As is a recording of that someone crying.

Iconic signs show something similar to what they represent. For instance when we see a photograph of someone, we know that it is not the actual person but only represents them. Maps and other abstract pictures are also iconic as long as we understand what they represent.

Symbolic signs require an overall consensus about what they mean. Language is a symbolic sign as are roadsigns and certain colours. Symbolic signs often loose their meaning when they are removed from their cultural habitat. In fact, most signs are at least loosely governed by conventions of interpretation or codes.

These categories of signs help considerably in the decoding of images, for instance...



The police officer is being kicked by the main character, Faith, which is indexical of the two being adversaries.

The red colouring of Faith's gloves and boots are symbolic of revolution and anarchism.

The skyscrapers and developed buildings are iconic of a prosperous flourishing city.