Atheist symbol?

There is a discussion going on at the Atheist Network about how we should (or should not) have some sort of symbol for atheism.

My initial reaction to that was a very simple reaction. If someones atheism is something that they think defines them in an important way, then they should feel free to mark themselves with whatever symbol that pleases them.

But as the conversation continues, I find my feelings on the matter go deeper than that.

Over and over, the 'gay pride' rainbow is brought up and I think that is both a good analogy, both for the pro's and the con's of the subject.

If some-one's gender preference is something that they strongly identify with and they want to wear the rainbow, then that is terrific. If I see that, I know that the persons 'gayness' is an important part to their identity.

Or is it?

How about the person who considered the 'rainbow' to be a sign of acceptance of diversity? Who is NOT gay, but has the symbol because they feel that their being accepting of diversity is a defining part of THEIR identity?

I have actually heard people say that someone who is not gay, should not be allowed to use that as an identifying symbol.

So who is it that gets to define what the symbol actually stands for?

If my atheism were an important part to my identity, I would want any symbol I wear to define ME and my atheism. Currently, there are plenty of symbols that define my feelings on the matter. I could wear the FSM, which describes my feeling about any god you would present to me... there is as much evidence for the FSM as the Christian god... explain why I should believe in one but not the other.

If I were so inclined, I could associate myself with any number or atheist/humanist organisations which have their own symbol... and that would give a fairly clear indication of what KIND of atheist I consider myself.

If there was ONE symbol denoting 'atheist' I personally would stay away from it for a couple simple reasons...

The most obvious being that I simply do not define myself by my atheism, so I see no reason to need to tell everyone around me that I do not have a belief in a god.

Second, there are a shitload of atheists who I think are absolute asses... fundy atheists who are no different to me than the fundy christians wearing their crosses as a way of visually declaring their superiority over anyone not of their kind ... or those who are only wearing ONE cross and not TWO or THREE.

Since most of the fundy atheists would be among the first to wear that symbol, if I wore it, I would be spending most of my time explaining that not everyone wearing that symbol are like that. Just like the rainbow, which was originally meant to identify ANYONE who valued diversity, gay or not, but which now is considered by most in the mainstream to be an identifier of one who is gay, any 'atheist' symbol would soon come to stand for that portion of the population that is most visible.

My third reason is fairly straight forward as well... my main problem with theists is not their belief in a god but in their belief that they are totally justified in forcing that belief on others. Their belief is no more my business as mine is theirs. For me to wear an 'atheist' symbol, declaring my my lack of belief is no different than someone wearing their cross to make a proclamation to me. It then becomes not about what one 'believes (or does not) but about someone being determined to make certain that everyone knows about it.