Symbols of the BRAMS Institute

On 17 January 2019, Professor Dr Maia Nadare designed the BRAMS Institute logo, drawing on heraldic motifs; the arms were formally granted on 27 May 2019. The logo employs a navy-blue and white palette and is used across the Institute's signage, stationery, promotional materials, and online channels.

22 Symbols BRAMS Institute. Credit to Maia Nadareishvili
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Logo description

The logo is a shield containing a Borjgali, a brilliant-cut diamond, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc runes, Georgian Asomtavruli letters, the Institute's title, and the year of establishment. The shield is divided into navy-blue and white fields.

  • Borjgali: An ancient Georgian emblem of the sun, depicted with seven rotating wings, symbolising freedom and eternity. Some scholars derive the name from the Megrelian barchkhali, "bright light" or "shining brightly", while others analyse it as borj ("time") + gal ("flow" or "pass"), denoting "the flow of time". The Borjgali appears on Georgian identity documents, currency (lari banknotes and tetri coins) and serves as the mascot of the national rugby team.
  • Diamond: A brilliant-cut diamond symbolises intellectual rigour, resilience and the pursuit of knowledge. Its physical properties – exceptional hardness, high thermal conductivity, and notable optical dispersion – are evoked metaphorically to signify intellectual clarity, perfection, and a commitment to research and enquiry.
  • Futhorc runes (left): Three Anglo-Saxon runes from the Futhorc alphabet (in use c. 400-1000 AD) are shown: B (beorc, "birch"), A (ac, "oak"), and S (sigel, "sun"). They represent, respectively, Britain (UK), America (US), and Sakartvelo (Georgia) – the three principal geographic and cultural fields of the Institute's work.
  • Asomtavruli letters (right): The three Asomtavruli (Mrgvlovani) letters Ⴁ, Ⴀ, Ⴑ ("B, A, S") mirror the meanings of the runes. Asomtavruli, meaning "capital letters", is a unicameral Georgian script; the earliest extant inscriptions include Bir el Qutt and Bolnisi (5th century AD). The alternative name Mrgvlovani – "rounded" – refers to the scrip's smooth letterforms.
BRAMS Institute logo with circled R 03. Credit to Maia Nadareishvili
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Motto

Since September 2018, the Institute has used the Latin motto "Non scholae sed vitae discimus" – "We do not learn for school, but for life" – attributed to Lucius Annaeus Seneca. The phrase is shared by several educational institutions and reflects BRAMS's practical commitment to scholarship that serves public life.