same hand sign
 

okay, I was reading other threads about new orgs imitating establish org's symbols, colors, mission, poems, even letters...

but...something quite common is hand signs. Now, my org has two, one we do by ourselves, and one we do when connecting with other sisters.

I know of quite a few orgs that have the SAME hand sign (I won't go into detail) be it fraternities or both a frat and sorority have the same hand sign.

How do people feel about that? Obviously, it gets kinda hard after a while to come up with a hand sign without some overlay, but I wonder how people feel when they see other orgs doing the same handsign, especially if your hand sign has significant meaning behind it....

Mu Sigma Upsilon does Alpha Phi Omega's handsign, which we've clearly had first and longer.

Chances are there were no APO members among MSU's founding or early members.

What else can I do other than get over it? Sometimes you've got to look at things in context.

Well, there's only so much that you can do with hands. There's bound to be some duplication. Plus, there's more to Greek life than hand signs *shrug*

It's not a big deal to me. There are so many other things to focus on, in my opinion. I've been in situations where I am going to be in a photo with members of other orgs. that share my handsign, and we actually get quite a kick out of it. It's all in good fun. :)

Whenever I do see members of orgs. get defensive about handsigns, colors, who's-first, etc., they are usually ALWAYS undergraduates (unfortunately).

there was an older thread on here that had a lot of pictures of similar hand signs of different groups. it was intresting to read, a little hard to follow since alot of the pictures no longer show up.
I've noticed some NPC groups who dont necessarily have hand signs but rather distinct 'arm and hand gestures' to signify something meaningful to their group-- thats pretty neat!

Did you know a lot of groups used to have distinctive whistles? LOL!!

Whistles? That's crazy! Which orgs use them?

Yep, we had a whistle. Apparently that was the thing to do in the early days. I doubt anyone still uses the whistles...in fact, I know that there are probably only 2 AOII alums who even know our whistle! I think that hand signs are a fairly new craze...many NPCs don't have them or only made them up recently. I've seen a few AOII pictures with some weird hand sign that doesn't look like anything to me, but I know they are emulating what they see other groups doing. I would love to hear our whistle, though.

That's pretty cool (the whistle). We are able to "whistle" our call, since it's in a pitch that lends itself pretty well to whistling (but that's not anything official). Once in a while, I would have a sister do this to me when she spotted me across the quad area, etc. instead of the official call. :)

Used to be very common.

That is true for me as well. I used to be the same way in UG... :o

I don't sweat this stuff. IMO, a hand sign is not as significant as its meaning.

We picked one up from a chapter that our girls met on spring break I think. It makes the badge.

But since it's really awkward to do and it's kind of useless for us, it hasn't exactly spread like wildfire.

idk, you can also argue it the other way...because it has a special meaning, that others doing it would be quite annoying. but, personally, I don't care much.

Ranking the following public things my org is recognized for, I would say (from most sacred i will punch you if you copy it and aren't a sister to eh whatever...)

My Org's letters
Shield
Principles
lady on the moon
our call
our handsigns
our symbols
our colors

I would agree that letters are pretty sacred; although I realize there IS overlap out there; especially in regards to locals. I have not come across another org that has our letters and honestly; I'm glad because it would just seem so strange...

I would say the shield/crest/coat-of-arms is also quite sacred -- but I have never seen an organization just outright copy another group's crest. I am sure it has happened -- but that really takes a lot of nerve... :rolleyes:

Symbols and colors seem to be a grab-bag. Tons of overlap in those areas. So much, that I think it's pretty inexcusable to get touchy about it. Unless a group has taken the same symbol/mascot or mascot/colors or colors/handsign, etc.

It's interesting that you mentioned principles. Although all of us have different mission statements, I think the general theme is the same; to establish a bond between individuals and function as a unit in our community. Also most of us are members of organizations that participate in community service. The priorities may be different and we may on the surface seem to be vastly different...but what we do is often times very similar.

That's just my own personal take. :)

Oh yes...with younger orgs, it certainly happens. And they are handled.