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The Hacker Emblem was first proposed in October 2003 by Eric S. Raymond, claiming a need for a uniting and recognizable symbol for his perception of hacker culture. Note that this does not refer to the common or popular use of the word hacker here, being someone who breaks or otherwise circumvents computer security. Raymond points out that one does not claim to be a hacker by displaying this emblem, but suggests that "by using this emblem, you express sympathy with hackers' goals, hackers' values, and the hacker way of living".

The image itself is a representation of a glider formation in Conway's Game of Life.

Other representations

Other means to display the image have evolved, mostly relying on ASCII art. Examples include:

.O.    |_|0|_|            0 1 0    
..O    |_|_|0|            0 0 1    
OOO    |0|0|0|            1 1 1

External links

• The Glider: Proposal for a Hacker Emblem. Contains more information on the Hacker Emblem proposal, including SVG and TeX sources and FAQs.
• "How To Become a Hacker." A document explaining the hacker culture.

• Computer hacking