As a tattoo or worn as a pendant, the Hamsa or Hand of Fatima can symbolise many things. Originally from North Africa and the Middle East, its symbolism and religious significance varies widely.

The Great Wave of Kanagawa, painted by Hokusai around 1830, became internationally famous as Japan opened up to the outside world during the Meiji era from the 1860s onwards. Emmanuel Lozerand, professor of Japanese language and literature explores the meaning of this iconic work.

How does a flower become a political and legal symbol? The camellia in Brazil represents the late abolition of slavery in 1888. It speaks to us of the republics of fugitive slaves, but also of the violent conditions of an abolition "conceded" by only a part of the former masters. It is under the banner of this flower that a deeply divided and unequal rainbow nation was born.

A powerful symbol of justice meted out by the royal hand, the hand of justice played a prominent place in the coronation rituals of the Kings of France. The symbol first emerged in the 13th century to represent how kings of France delegated the management of the justice system to the courts.

The statue of the tyrant killers Harmodius and Aristogeiton was erected in the 5th century BC as a memorial to the victory of democracy over tyranny on the Agora of Athens. The motif was also adopted on Greek vases and coins. Historian Vincent Azoulay explains how the depiction of the tyrant killers has evolved over the centuries, culminating in the most controversial of all contemporary monumental sculptures.