How are atheists' graves marked at Arlington National Cemetery?

I really feel like we’re really in the 21st century now, because I see that Arlington has an online Headstone and Niche Cover Designer

Most of the sample headstones have no religious symbol.

You can see the approved emblems here, including the atheists’ atom and the Muslim star and crescent.

the atheists’ atom

Wait, we have a symbol? Isn’t that like anarchists having a Constitution?

Interesting question. Thanks for the links. I love that they cover everyone, or seem to want to cover all beliefs. I wonder if it can be chosen to be left blank with no symbol? I think a lot of atheists would not want to use a symbol. I’m an atheist, but I would still want a Jewish star.

Most of the symbols were adopted pretty easily, until they got to the Wiccans. I’m an atheist ex-Wiccan, but I’d probably want the Pentacle out of spite!

Interestingly, I sort of even qualify to be interred at Arlington, but it’s not what I want done with my remains.

@jaytkay Atoms exist. No objections here.

I for one must admit that I’ve had trouble telling the anesthetists’ atom from the Presbyterians’.

@jaytkay It is thought that Atheists believe in science, therefore the atom.

Atheists believe in science, therefore the atom

Most religious people believe in science,too.

Despite the small but exceedingly loudmouthed minority.

@jerv Not particularly. You’d be shocked by the number of atheists who do reiki.

laureth I never knew the atom was the symbol for an atheist. Yeah, as KoleraHeliko says, they do exist. So what’s the symbol for an agnostic like me? Perhaps the Higgs boson or dark energy? Maybe they exists, but then again, maybe they don’t.

@ETpro How about a virtual particle? They sort of exist, except when they don’t.

@KoleraHeliko Oh what the heck. With all those symbols, they don’t have one for me. I’ll go with a blank, and leave others guessing.

The atheist atom logo is a symbol of American Atheists:

An international symbol for Atheism has long been needed. When American Atheists was formed in 1963, a contemporary scientific symbol was chosen; this acknowledges that only through the use of scientific analysis and free, open inquiry can humankind reach out for a better life.

I don’t know any atheists who are actually members of this organization & the logo looks cartoonishly dated. I remember watching its founder, Madelyn Murray-O’Hair, speaking beside the logo on public access tv, before her murder in 1995.

Hey, how come there are no government-approved headstone symbols for Flying Spaghetti Monster ?

@laureth Thank you. That was an interesting chart. I love it when I learn something.

@gasman I wonder how many atheists feel they need a symbol? I would think most find it odd to have a symbol. I think of atheists as not being joiners. Not really worried about being identified as part of a group. Anyway, that is how I feel. I admit living here in the bible belt it is nice to come across an atheist, but rarely do we find each other out, because we rarely admit, or talk about it.

@JLeslie Yes, I’m still “in the closet” as far as co-workers and casual acquaintances are concerned. I lived in the Bible belt 1993–2006 & felt especially wary. There’s also an organization called The Brights (with its own logo) for people with a “naturalistic worldview.” I get their newsletter.

Recruiting atheists into activist organizations is like herding cats, lol.

@gasman I was not in the “closet” until I moved to the south. Everyone else in my life knows I am an athiest. My college friends, family, people I grew up with. Well, I mean if religion and beliefs come up. In the south if the topic comes up I generally let people assume I believe in God. In my circles in the northeast and Florida many people are athiests, it’s no big deal.

@jaytkay As others have said, the atom is the recognized atheist symbol. But it’s not like the Jewish star or the cross. Another symbol is this one. I prefer this, actually.

Why should any grave be marked? Are we not all heading one way? Are we not all decomposing in the same way? Will the marking upon our grave indicate different after-life treatment. Will there be corridors stating” “Believers this way, Non-believers that way etc??”

@ZEPHYRA The marker can be seen in several ways. For some it represents the identity of the person. The years they lived, family name, wife, mother, Christian. People wear crosses around their neck, put them up on the walls of their homes, why not one on their grave marker?

Some people might mark the grave in a way that would make their loved ones comfortable when they visit the grave.

I’d prefer this symbol for atheism. More modern, and it doesn’t imply any thing but atheism.

@augustlan Almost like the auggie A.

Double win! :)

As a committed atheist, I don’t want any symbol at all. I don’t “belong” to atheism or subscribe to anything on account of it. Freedom from any symbolic designation would be the clearest statement of my position.

@Rarebear—right, a scarlet “A” is perfect for those wretched lost souls.

@Jeruba That sounds more like what I would expect from an atheist.

Yeah, I wouldn’t want any symbol on my headstone.

It amazes me that anyone cares, if you are an atheist and you are right, there is nothing left of you except worm food so why would you care what is on your tombstone? If you are wrong and there is an all merciful god, he will forgive you and if heaven is all that it is cracked up to be, again why would you care what mark of you is left for the worms? If you think about it, in less than one generation after you die, practically no one will remember you anyhow, unless humanity deems you to have some value like Angelina Jolie, then you might be remembered a little bit longer.

@rooeytoo For those who might visit the grave. The headstone says who you were. Also, the stone still marks you existed and where you were buried. Arlington is different than your average cemetary because of the history it represents; men who served at war for the country.

@JLeslie – I just don’t get it. Why is it worth announcing? Why is it more important than saying, I was a democrat, I didn’t like sauerkraut, I supported the Yankees, I drank Miller light, I was heterosexual. The older I get the more I notice how quickly those who die are forgotten, even your own family forgets within a generation or two. So what I am saying is nobody really cares what I believed, I am not that important. Not many are important enough that anyone cares. I bet a lot of kids going there today wonder why there is a flame at JFK’s grave.

But hey, if someone wants it, It is no business of mine, I just find it curious. Maybe I should have a pic of a dog and a pooper scooper on mine.

@rooeytoo Overall I pretty much agree with you that people are forotten in a generation or two. I also think if we keep burying everyone, all the land is going to be full of graves. Some countries have gone to cremation in a big way because land is more scarce. Arlington is a special place I guess, for veterans, different than your average cemetary. I think a symbol of faith is just tradition. I guess since faith many time speaks of where you go when you die. Also, because religion is many times one of the big identifyers for a person. American, Christian, mother, wife, sister, etc.

I have no idea what I want when I die. I guess I should figure it out so I can put my request in. Buried, cremated, where buried, where to lay my ashes, I have no idea. If my husband died I would want to have him near me somehow, or able to visit. Could be ashes in an urn in my house, or a grave, not sure. I think I would let his parents choose while they are alive if he has not specified. I have no idea about a religious marker for him though. He was raised Catholic, converted to judaism, but it not reigious, but he is a theist. Probably I would not worry about a religious symbol on it for him, but then again his parents might care?

@rooeytoo Religion deals with death and afterlife, so it’s particularly pertinent to marking graves. Most people are religious, and most religions allow an afterlife during which the grave marker retains significance to grieving survivors and (one might infer from an afterlife) to the deceased as well, who expects, in some sense, to exist concurrently with the grave itself for eternity. I’m not questioning the reality of it, just noting the motivation to mark one’s grave (i.e., to desire that it be marked by others when one dies) which surely is as old as mankind.

They probably mark the graves with those religious marks so the angel, or whatever, who comes through after the you know what can quickly figure out who goes to heaven and who becomes a zombie. Come to think of it, maybe the zombie could be the atheist symbol?

Yep, I can see this on Arlington Graves!

Wow, just found this question again. I don’t remember it and certainly don’t remember ever answering it. And yet, there it is!

The link moved .

I see the offer Thor’s hammer, but nothing for Odin or Frejya or Hella, or quite a few other pagans I could list.

I’d like to see a tree, for nature or a globe for Gaia, maybe.