Semiotic emblems and cultural values: A comparative study on universities across the Taiwan Strait

According to the arguments of CIS/SIS, university emblems are influential for visual identity. This paper reviews theories, concepts, and relevant discourse concerning visual identity and the appearance of emblems, semiotics/semiology, and cultural values. Based on the review, 3 topics are considered regarding university emblems across the Taiwan Strait: (a) their exterior appearances, (b) their core values, and (c) the interrelations between the appearances and the values. The study objects are sampled from the emblems of universities established or restructured in recent years (i.e., in Taiwan since 1987 and in Mainland China since 1977), and are analyzed using content analysis and the Z test. The results show that the percentage of texts adopted by university emblems in Mainland China is 4 times higher than that in Taiwan, and that significant differences exist in the quantities of the "compliance with authority" and "worship of religious beliefs" values.