The Story of the Sage Emblem
When we were designing the Sage emblem, we wanted more than a logo. We wanted a picture that could carry a story – with characters, patterns, and symbols that reach us in ways beyond words. Each element was chosen with care, but also with a sense of play. Health and care are serious matters, but if we can’t laugh along the way, we risk missing something vital.
The bee reminds us that we’re part of something larger – the hive holds a superorganism buzzing with collaboration and reciprocity. Like bees, none of us can do it all, but together, sweet things can happen.
The dragonfly, light and fleeting, hovers with its shimmering wings. In myth it’s about adaptability and seeing through illusion. In practice, it’s a reminder that life is fragile and short – so maybe it’s worth taking a pause now and then to notice the glint of sunlight on the water before diving back into the day’s to-do list.
The butterfly speaks of transformation and new beginnings – and also of the awkwardness of change. (After all, it starts life as a caterpillar, spends a long time in goo, and only then emerges briefly beautiful. Perhaps there’s comfort in knowing the messy middle is part of the process.)
Patterns run through the emblem, hinting at how small actions can weave into larger change. The hexagon is one of nature’s most elegant shapes, linking parts into a whole – strong enough to hold honey, yet humble enough to repeat itself endlessly. A good lesson for humans too.
The snail teaches patience, persistence, and the wisdom of slow medicine. It also carries its house on its back – the original mobile home. The acorn holds the promise that mighty oaks grow from small beginnings, though the acorn itself might not believe it if you told it so. The dandelion seed shows how ideas and practices can travel far and wide, parachuting off into unlikely places. (Anyone who has ever tried weeding a garden knows you can’t keep a good dandelion down.)
Other symbols hold paradox and invitation. The open circle suggests wholeness yet remains incomplete – a way of saying “you’re welcome, come on in.” The frog, amphibious and adaptable, lives in both water and land. It reminds us of renewal, but also of a warning: like the boiled frog who doesn’t notice the heat rising, we risk missing the danger if we don’t pay attention. Perhaps it’s time to find cool the flames. Orbits suggest relationship and movement, the dance of forces in balance.
And finally, sage - both plant and word - speaks of healing, wisdom and deep roots in tradition and nature. It also makes a very decent cup of tea for an unsettled stomach.
Running quietly through the emblem is a sense of a web. It isn’t drawn as a separate strand but suggested - in the veining of a leaf, in the way the elements sit together as a pattern. This hints at the interstitium of life, the connective tissue that holds and links everything. It reminds us that health and care are not just about the obvious parts we can name, but about the spaces in-between - the threads of relationship and interconnection that give strength and coherence. Like a spider’s web, these connections can appear delicate, yet they carry surprising resilience, capable of holding weight and catching light.
And so our emblem becomes more than decoration: it is a story woven in pattern and symbol, carrying wisdom, humour and hope. Just as each element plays its part, so too do we – practitioners, patients, citizens - adding our own threads. The emblem invites us to step inside the picture and see ourselves within it, part of the web of care we are growing together.