Does Caduceus Affect Your Medical Practice Branding?

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Does Caduceus Affect Your Medical Practice
Branding?
Branding is essential for medical practices in
the same way it is for any other business. Adding
personality to your healthcare brand with a
carefully chosen logo and compelling color scheme
is all it takes to bring flair to your brand and
make it stand out. If youre about to start your
medical practice, it should have a logo that
plants a sense of trust and care in the minds of
your patients. So, what kind of logo will you
choose that helps you cut through the noise and
stands out from the competition? A lot of
healthcare providers in the US tend to choose the
image of two snakes wrapped around a staff, known
as the caduceus, as their brand logo. This is
both right and wrong. To help you understand why
some practitioners use caduceus as medical
symbol, lets go back to the origin and meaning
of caduceus. Origin of Caduceus Symbol The word
caduceus (pronounced as ka-DOO-shus) is derived
from the Greek word kerukeion, which means
heralds staff. In the ancient times, heralds
(who claimed to be the descendants of the Greek
god Hermes) were messengers who brought and
announced the news. That caduceus symbol belonged
to Hermes, the ancient Greek god. The Romans
called him Mercury. The symbol originated when
Hermes attempted to stop a fight between two
snakes by throwing a stick at them. The snakes
twined themselves around the rod and became
fixed, and thats how the symbol was born. The
caduceus symbol is also sometimes called as
Hermes caduceus.
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Is Modern Medicine Using an Incorrect
Symbol? Though the caduceus symbol and medicine
are widely associated, the association is
incorrect. Heres why. Historically, Hermes and
the caduceus didnt have much to do with health
or medicine. So why did the caduceus become the
emblem of the medical profession? Most likely, it
is a case of mistaken identity with a more
fitting symbol, the Rod of Asclepius. Since
Hermes was considered the messenger for the gods,
it inspired printers to use this symbol to
represent the printing industry. Later, in 1902,
a US Army officer mistook the caduceus symbol
printed on one of the medical texts as a
reference to medical practice and proposed the
medical symbol of snake to represent the Army
Medical Corps. Though it was a mistake, the
widespread use of the caduceus symbol in the US
military medicine gave birth to the present-day
misinterpretation of medical caduceus. Who Uses
the Caduceus Symbol? There are two versions of
the serpents-with-a-staff emblem. One is the Rod
of Asclepius, which has a single serpent around
the rod, wielded by the Greek god Asclepius,
whos associated with medicine and healing. The
other version is the caduceus symbol. It seems
this confusion of symbols is uniquely American.
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In 1990, a survey found that almost 62 percent of
healthcare professionals used the Rod of
Asclepius symbol, while 37 percent used the
caduceus symbol. In addition, 76 percent of
commercial organizations used the caduceus
symbol. The World Health Organization has the Rod
of Asclepius for its emblem. A lot of people ask
us about the significance of snakes as a medical
symbol. One explanation could be that the Greeks
considered snakes sacred and used them in healing
as their way of honoring their god Asclepius. For
them, snake venom was remedial, and they viewed
snakes skin-shedding as a symbol of renewal and
rebirth. Conclusion Medicine is full of
symbols, which tend to change their meaning, just
like languages. Symbols like the Rod of Asclepius
and the caduceus tell us about an era of
professionalism long before there were
accreditations. But as a healthcare provider
whos looking for medical practice branding
guidelines, its the staff with one snake that
you should be considering.
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Thats all we have to tell you about the caduceus
meaning in medical terms. We hope it gets you
thinking about branding your medical practice in
an entirely new way or just strengthening the
brand your patients already love. Keep coming
back as we will be adding more medical practice
branding ideas to our Practice Builders blog. Do
share your thoughts on healthcare branding! Maybe
well add your ideas to the list.