About our "apple-globe" icon

Several of our foreign affiliates have expressed a curiosity about our chosen E&O symbol of the apple with the continents adorning it. It never occurred to me when I was designing this logo that not everyone understood the significance of the apple in relation to education!

In the United States, and perhaps elsewhere in the world, it is a tradition to bring an apple to the teacher as a token of appreciation. The phrase "bring an apple to the teacher" has come to mean something more like "do something nice to gain favor." Irregardless, the apple has become a traditional symbol of education here in the US and is extremely common; much like the picture of a mortar board or rolled diploma has come to represent graduating from school.

Deborah Barnes
IRIS Webmaster