There are symbols that almost everyone knows ― a heart stands for love, a white dove for peace ― yet there is no logo that symbolizes human rights.

The German Embassy announced a global competition to find the international symbol for humanity’s fundamental rights.

Until July 31, candidates can submit proposals for what will be known the world over as the accepted logo for the principle of human rights.

All designs must be submitted to and will be published at www.humanrightslogo.net.

This initiative was the brainchild of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Germany, Canada, Mauritius, Senegal, Singapore, Czech Republic and Uruguay.

The jury is made up of foreign ministers from the nine partner states who have created the initiative, along with prominent personalities like Nobel Prize winners Aung San Suu Kyi, Shirin Ebadi, Muhammad Yunus and Mikhail Gorbachev, the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, film director Roland Emmerich, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, pop star and peace activist Juanes, as well as renowned international design experts, and others.

The logo will give the human rights movement a visible and recognizable symbol, while at the same time, draw attention to the importance of human rights and encourage people around the world to demand them.

The winning logo will be unveiled in late September in New York.

The winning prize will receive $7,000. Second and third place will win $4,200 and $1,400, respectively.

(yoav@heraldcorp.com)