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If you google the phrase "fouled anchor", you will find numerous web
pages that discuss the origin of the symbol. These provide that
"timeline" that you say you're already familiar with tracing it back to
at least 1588. But as you say, why would anyone use such a symbol to
represent maritime skill?

When I look at the "fouled anchor" symbol, it reminds me of the Staff
of Asclepius or the Caduceus, symbols with a snake or two wrapped
around a staff that have become signs of medical knowledge. Is the rope
around the anchor the mariner's equivalent of those tamed serpents? The
Caduceus has two snakes and a crossbar of wings at the top, which
actually does look something like the cross-beam in an old anchor. This
symbol was associated with Hermes, who was himself associated with
wealth and commerce, so a nautical version would make good sense for
sea-going merchants and traders. Its adoption by navies would then be
accidental (1588, Effingham, and all that).

Of course, sometimes a rope is just a rope, and the original meaning of
the fouled anchor may be lost to time. It could just as easily be
something as simple as an ironic "good luck charm", along the lines of
"break a leg" in theater.

-FER


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