Yellow Sign

The Yellow Sign is a fictional symbol or glyph, first described in Robert Chambers' book of horror short stories entitled The King in Yellow (1895).

The King in Yellow

The King in Yellow never fully describes the shape and purpose the Yellow Sign. Nonetheless, "The Repairer of Reputations", one of the stories in the collection, suggests that anyone who possesses, even by accident, a copy of the sign is susceptible to some form of insidious mind control, or possession, by the King in Yellow or one of his heirs. The stories also suggest that the original creator of the sign was not human and possibly came from a strange alternate dimension that contains an ominous and ancient city known as Carcosa.

The Cthulhu Mythos

H. P. Lovecraft and many of his imitators were great admirers of Chambers' book and incorporated many of his characters and symbols into their own works. In the latter-day Cthulhu Mythos, developed by August Derleth and other Lovecraft imitators, the Yellow Sign is the sign of Hastur and is used by members of his cult to identify one other. In addition, according to many of these works one of Hastur's avatars is known as the King in Yellow. This interpretation is popular among role-players, but many prefer the more vague horror of Chambers' original vision.

Call of Cthulhu

In 1989, Kevin Ross designed a Yellow Sign symbol for the Chaosium roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu. Ross created the symbol for an adventure scenario entitled "Tell Me, Have You Seen The Yellow Sign?" in the supplemental book The Great Old Ones. The symbol resembles a yellow triskelion, and is also believed to resemble a tentacled creature, since Hastur is often described as an aquatic tentacled being similar to Cthulhu."Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?". The Great Old Ones. 1989. Chaosium Inc.

Ross later stated in an interview that the image used is actually a corruption of his original drawing; apparently, Chaosium printed the image both upside-down and backwards. Flipping the image horizontally and vertically reveals Ross' original conception of the Yellow Sign, which resembles a coiled body or tentacle with two tentacles branching upward. Fans have pointed out that this image bears a resemblance to the "Chronos" symbol used by the band Blue Oyster Cult. When asked, Ross admitted to being a big fan of the band, but could not remember if the resemblance was deliberate. ^*

Other Media

In Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus! trilogy, the Cult of the Yellow Sign is offered to one detective as a concocted explanation of human history. The cult supposedly worships cthulhoid entities known as lloigor, commits human sacrifice, and has strived throughout history to suppress rationalism. The cult is opposed by the rationalist Illuminati.

F. Tennyson Neely Monogram

The first edition of The King In Yellow was published in 1895 by F. Tennyson Neely, and featured a picture of a lizard on the cover with a highly stylized symbol in the upper left corner. Some believed that this symbol was supposed to be the Yellow Sign. However, closer examination of the symbol reveals that they are a monogram of F.T.N., the publisher's initials, and the same picture appears on other early editions of books published by F. Tennyson Neely as part of their "Neely's Prismatic Library" series.^*

Notes and references