Symbols of BRAMS Institute

On 17 January 2019, Maia Nadare designed the BRAMS Institute logo based on the coat of arms. The arms were officially granted on 27 May 2019. The logo and its colours – navy blue and white – are widely used on Institute signage, documents, printed materials, promotional souvenirs, online data, etc.

BRAMS logo

The logo of BRAMS Institute is shaped as a shield. It features Borjgali, a diamond, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc runes, Georgian Asomtavruli letters, the title of the Institute, and the year of its establishment.

The shield's field is partly navy blue and partly white.

Borjgali is an ancient Georgian symbol of the sun with seven rotating wings. It represents the ideas of freedom and eternity. According to some scholars, the word 'Borjgali' is derived from the Megrelian word 'barchkhali', which means 'bright light or shining brightly'. Other scholars suggest that it originates from the old Megrelian words 'borj' ('time') and 'gal' ('pass' or 'flow'), meaning 'the flow of time'. The Borjgali symbol is widely used on Georgian ID cards, passports, and driving licences. Additionally, it is commemorated on the Georgian national currency – the Lari banknotes and the Tetri coins. Finally, Borjgali is the official mascot of the Georgian Rugby team.

A diamond of brilliant cut is another symbol used on the logo of BRAMS Institute. The diamond has exceptional physical characteristics, including extreme hardness, thermal conductivity, wide bandgap, and high optical dispersion. As a precious stone, the diamond symbolizes intellectual knowledge and is connected to its invincible spiritual power, perfection, and commitment to exploring, learning, researching, and studying.

On the left of the shield, three runes represent the Anglo-Saxon variant of the runic alphabet Futhorc used from 400 AD to 1000 AD. The runes are B (beorc – birch), A (ac – oak), and S (sigel – sun), and each symbolizes one of the three main countries that BRAMS Institute studies, researches, and promotes worldwide. These countries are Britain (UK), America (US), and Sakartvelo (Georgia the country).

On the right side of the shield, there are three Georgian letters from the Asomtavruli (Mrgvlovani) alphabet: Ⴁ, Ⴀ, Ⴑ (B, A, S). These letters have a similar meaning to the runes on the left side. Asomtavruli means ‘capital letters’ and is a unicameral script. Bir el Qutt and the Bolnisi inscriptions are the oldest Asomtavruli inscriptions discovered by archaeologists so far, dating from the 5th century AD. The Asomtavruli alphabet is also known as 'Mrgvlovani', which means 'rounded', due to the smooth and rounded shapes of its letters.