Unity Worldwide Ministries adopted a new logo in 2011, which incorporates a stylized suggestion of wings.
As UWM explains... "One of Unity’s basic teachings is that of metaphysics. Metaphysics is based on the meaning beyond the physical. Each of us interprets the world as it has meaning to us. In the same way, our Unity logo has a unique meaning for each of us. We have heard some really great ideas that have been shared by some of the members of our Unity community. For instance: “the ‘i’ is the flame of the Spirit within us that is becoming the full expression of the Christ.” Another has said it is “the light on the lamp stand." To some, it means, "the 'I' of the I Am that I Am."...
The word “Unity” in our logo is not a font. It was a hand-created graphic and, with the ball, is unique to us as a movement."
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About the Unity Wings
The Unity wings symbol, the winged globe, appears in many Unity publications. This ancient symbol has been re-created in many variations, from the older pen and ink drawing you see above, to wood carvings, stained glass, and modernized drawings.
Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, adopted this artistic creation as a Christian symbol as early as 1891 in the first issue of Unity Magazine. In 1923 he gave this explanation of the Unity wings:
"The winged globe or sun disc...represents the relation existing between Spirit, soul and body. Soul (the wings) gives wings to the body (the disc). Spirit is the (invisible) enveloping Principle, like the atmosphere in which both soul and body exist, and from which they draw their original inspiration."
~ Charles Fillmore, in Unity magazine, April 1923.
In 1956, he further explained the symbolism of the winged globe this way:
"It is an ancient Egyptian symbol, but it is found in various forms in the religions of other races. It represents the relation existing between Spirit, soul, and body. Soul gives wings to body. Spirit is the enveloping principle, like the atmosphere in which both soul and body exist, and from which they draw their original inspiration.
The winged globe is also a symbol of the earth and its soul. The earth has soul, as have its products of every description. All exist in the ether, the anima mundi, the divine mother. When people of the earth lift up their thoughts to God, and the Animus Dei or directive Spirit, then the planet takes wings into a higher radiation of universal life.
As man develops spiritual consciousness, he attains the realization of the soul as the wings of the body. Back of the Soul is Spirit, which quickens and energizes the soul; that is, gives the soul wings. Artists paint their angels with wings representing in this way their freedom from physical fetters. But the soul does not have wings like a bird. The life activity of the soul is quickened by Spirit until it rises above the thought of matter and floats free in the ether of the fourth dimension, which Jesus called the kingdom of the heavens."
~ Charles Fillmore, from the Unity publication "Good Business," April 1956.
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The Association of Unity Churches International which serves member ministries with administrative support and materials, originally used a variation on the Unity wings theme for its logo - a seagull and circle.
"The seagull flying in the center circle symbolizes the lifting of the spirit of humankind in freedom, forever enfolded within the infinite circle of God's eternal love."
"The seagull flying in the center circle symbolizes the lifting of the spirit of humankind in freedom, forever enfolded within the infinite circle of God's eternal love."