# An animal for Julia?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322>\
**Category:** Community\
**Tags:** marketing, branding, animals\
**Created:** [October 8, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322 "2017-10-08T10:20:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 6

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MatFi](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/matfi/32/10002_2.png) [@MatFi](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/MatFi)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/104 "2021-05-06T21:04:56Z")

</div>

The Balls She’s playing with are already occupied by an other [dolphin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_Smalltalk)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ImreSamu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/imresamu/32/20677_2.png) [@ImreSamu](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ImreSamu)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/105 "2021-05-06T21:29:09Z")

</div>

> [@lmiq](#):
>
> Some birds of paradise come with the colors almost for free (ceyx erithaca):

correlation 🙂

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/2/8/289487017dc7979465ea00bc288bd0baa2d226e4.jpeg)

> **[Julia](https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Julia)**
>
> This article is about the snooty ostrich villager. For the smug horse villager, see Julian. “In a certain sense, an umbrella expresses its owner's personality even more than clothes.” ― Julia, New Horizons Julia (ジュリア, Juria?, Julia) is a snooty...

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Juan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juan/32/7657_2.png) [@Juan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Juan)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 12:24am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/106 "2021-05-07T00:24:17Z")

</div>

The animal is nice but the name is not. Neither it is unigasus.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Juan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juan/32/7657_2.png) [@Juan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Juan)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 12:30am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/107 "2021-05-07T00:30:11Z")

</div>

What about a tardigrade?  
 ![istockphoto-1201515436-612x612](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/3/f/3f20d54d2a94f07fd0b5924a7ab81af6e14394e1.jpeg)

 ![tardigrados-osos-agua](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/e/0/e02e2d0848815b699c5ca26187525710bc7a4ea9.jpeg)

 ![Tardígrado1](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/3/1/31188410562a52bf573156509be327bf9baa9e58.jpeg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lhnguyen-vn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/lhnguyen-vn/32/15449_2.png) [@lhnguyen-vn](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/lhnguyen-vn)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/108 "2021-05-07T21:35:58Z")

</div>

I love @miguelraz’s idea! A walkie-talkie fits very well with Julia’s multiple dispatch paradigm, and we can even call them Pat for short (a gender neutral name at that). Here’s a few renditions to make them even more animated:

 ![pat](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/1/b/1b2bd77bdb5d5007c5dceaa860d9917ed3cbb271.png)  
 ![laptop_pat](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/2/f/2faf561178dff34d195e1c7cf87bb8255797c7cb.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sairus7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sairus7/32/10816_2.png) [@sairus7](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sairus7)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/109 "2021-05-07T22:03:28Z")

</div>

Another option:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/c/7/c7254f4c4d6a5a331ae40e9e2454f739a4582bae.jpeg)

from this [video](https://youtu.be/DGojI9xcCfg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tbeason](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tbeason/32/15898_2.png) [@tbeason](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tbeason)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/110 "2021-05-07T22:13:45Z")

</div>

The Dispatch walkie-talkie needs to become a thing, even if it doesn’t become the “official” mascot

👍

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Oscar\_Smith](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/oscar_smith/32/25343_2.png) [@Oscar\_Smith](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Oscar_Smith)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 10:19pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/111 "2021-05-07T22:19:46Z")

</div>

I really like these versions, although I do think the blue circle should be the left-most for consistency.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![StevenSiew](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevensiew/32/218393_2.png) [@StevenSiew](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/StevenSiew)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/112 "2021-05-07T23:02:11Z")

</div>

![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/7/7/773d7d68040b043b161d282a5c21a9780b11ddf0.jpeg)

wolverine

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![martinmestre](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/martinmestre/32/215857_2.png) [@martinmestre](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/martinmestre)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/113 "2026-04-14T16:28:44Z")

</div>

Hi!  
I have just seen this old funny conversation. Very nice proposals!  
Indepently of the fact that the Julia 4 dots logo is perfect, I wanted to share the animal that I would most associate with the **J** ulia language. It’s a **Jaguar** , an animal that prefers **Ju** ngle-like environments and has some characteristics similar to the language: explosively fast, strong and aesthetically nice. It’s an animal that lives all over a large area of America, though it’s a highly endangered species due to humans. It’s name comes from the Tupi-Guarani word “yaguara” (In fact, in Argentina we call it yaguareté). I attach a photo for completeness

 ![yaguarete](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/8/c/8c9861c9e293434c53aa948168a03e4f51e4e0d1.jpeg)  
.  
Best!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![danvinci](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/danvinci/32/21445_2.png) [@danvinci](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/danvinci)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/114 "2026-04-14T22:06:23Z")

</div>

In case this is still ongoing, +1 for the hummingbird

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gwr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/gwr/32/33632_2.png) [@gwr](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/gwr)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/115 "2026-04-15T13:55:31Z")

</div>

While speed is the _obvious_ Julia selling point, and the thing people like to brag about, I would argue that Julia’s real structural advantage is **multiple dispatch**.

If we are looking for a mascot in the animal kingdom, that seems more relevant than raw speed alone.

So let me once again nominate the **mantis shrimp** as the official Julia mascot.

Not only does its coloring match Julia rather nicely, but its whole structure is remarkable: elegant, specialized, and literally powerful. It carries a real hammer, not just a metaphorical one for nails.

That seems closer to Julia’s character than yet another generic “fast animal.”

And for extra style points, the mantis shrimp has already inspired materials research:

> **[The Mantis Shrimp Inspires a New Material—Made by Bacteria](https://www.wired.com/story/the-mantis-shrimp-inspires-a-new-material-made-by-bacteria/)**
>
> By 3D-printing scaffolds and dipping them in microbe juice, scientists make robust structures that could one day lead to self-growing roads.

Cheers!

EDIT  
More “amazing” facts:

> **[14 Incredible Mantis Shrimp Facts - Fact Animal](https://factanimal.com/mantis-shrimp/)**
>
> Mantis shrimp are notorious for their striking force and inspiring new technologies for body armour, aircraft panels and even cancer cameras.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![digital\_carver](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/digital_carver/32/33818_2.png) [@digital\_carver](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/digital_carver)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 2:53am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/116 "2026-04-16T02:53:38Z")

</div>

There’s a YouTube channel called Clint’s Reptiles from zoologist Clint Laidlaw, that points out a lot of things that “animal facts” articles and videos get subtly (or not so subtly) wrong, I’ve been following him for a little while. So I checked to see if he had a video on Mantis Shrimps, and it turns out he does (although for some reason, it’s from the angle of having them as pets 😅 - it does cover a lot of facts about them though): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp31JWB23kU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp31JWB23kU)

I like the “boxing champion” description and their “lightning hammer claw” - a lot of benefit of Julia in practice comes from being able to write simple straightforward code most of the time (that’s just reasonably fast) and then having access to threads and SIMD and all sorts of powerful niceties when you do need them for a core algorithm that needs to go as fast as it can. That sounds like a precise application of power to move at high speeds when it’s most effective - like a boxing champion or a lightning hammer claw - rather than like a generic fast animal.

Regarding coloring, it looks like only a few species of mantis shrimp have the mulitcolored patterns commonly shown, most other species are brown, yellow, pale white-and-gray, etc. The species that do have it are mainly the peacock mantis shrimp (the one shown in most photos) and the purple-spot mantis shrimp. About the latter, check this out:

> The species _[Gonodactylus smithii](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonodactylus_smithii)_ [i.e. the purple-spot mantis shrimp] is the only organism known to simultaneously detect the four linear and two circular polarisation components required to measure all four [Stokes parameters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stokes_parameters), which yield a full description of polarisation. It is thus believed to have optimal polarisation vision.[[36]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mantis_shrimp#cite_note-Kleinlogel_et_al-36)[[40]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mantis_shrimp#cite_note-40) It is the only animal known to have dynamic polarisation vision. This is achieved by rotational eye movements to maximise the polarisation contrast between the object in focus and its background.[[41]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mantis_shrimp#cite_note-41) Since each eye moves independently from the other, it creates two separate streams of visual information.[[42]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mantis_shrimp#cite_note-42)

How cool is that! The only organism whose biology can yield a full description of light polarisation, and, just like Julia, they can parallel-process independent streams of (visual) information easily.

So those are points in favour of having the purple-spot mantis shrimp as Julia’s animal. The points in favour of the peacock mantis shrimp are that they’re visibly multicolored far more often (other species including the purple-spot ones are visibly and strikingly multicolored only in some individuals), and that it’s simply so much easier to find photos of these guys than of any others species of mantis shrimp!

Here are the only two good photos of the purple-spot mantis shrimp I was able to find, for posterity:

 ![gsmithii2](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/4/0/40182acb178372225db354164573bb00038076b8.jpeg)  
from [g\_smithii](https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/species.php?name=g_smithii) and  
 ![Purple spot mantis shrimp (species: Gonodactylus smithii)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/a/5/a55f47142dab80ea6997c7b9adf3aa97a4e45fe8.jpeg)  
from [Photo of Animalia: Purple spot mantis shrimp (species: Gonodactylus smithii) (Lizard Island Field Guide)](https://lifg.australian.museum/HotShot.html?resourceId=ypvs7KZY)

Editing to add a (short and IMO pretty cute!) video: [Purple Spot Mantis looking around his home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkv7cqoiYp4)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![huang\_min](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/huang_min/32/34337_2.png) [@huang\_min](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/huang_min)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 3:22am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/117 "2026-04-16T03:22:53Z")

</div>

It is fortunate not to have an animal for Julia.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gwr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/gwr/32/33632_2.png) [@gwr](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/gwr)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 7:31am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/118 "2026-04-16T07:31:27Z")

</div>

> [@huang\_min](#):
>
> It is fortunate not to have an animal for Julia.

Sure. I, for one, am perfectly happy that Julia just has some balls.

On the other hand, quite a few languages have unofficial animals or mascots.

“ **Mantissa** ” the mantis shrimp would actually fit Julia rather well: lightning-fast, armed with unbreakable tools, and more than capable of dealing with crustaceans.

In any case, better than some slow-moving snake that wins mostly by constriction and by swallowing more than is good for it. 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![danvinci](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/danvinci/32/21445_2.png) [@danvinci](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/danvinci)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/119 "2026-04-16T17:47:01Z")

</div>

I agree that multiple dispatch is central to Julia, but I think picking a mascot that encodes a single language feature is the wrong frame.

A mascot is a visual identity asset. It has to read at small size, work on a sticker, a conference badge, an enterprise docs page, and on a hoodie/hat/merch. It has to carry a feeling. The right question is more about _which animal gives us a mark the community can feel proud to put on everything_.

So any candidate should pass a few basic tests:

- Does it have a clean silhouette?
- Does it scale down without turning into a blob?
- Does it carry warmth, or at least **not repel** people?
- Does it work across contexts from playful to professional?

Proposals like mantis shrimp or tardigrade - honestly can’t even tell if those are serious - fail on most of these. An animal with busy anatomy or unsettling associations might win a metaphor argument, but it dies the moment you put it on actual material.

Personally I’d push for keeping and evolving the hummingbird: precise, fast, agile, a little playful - I think it matches how Julia actually feels to use.

I had an idea for a geometric design that uses Julia’s colors. The faceted/low-poly style also ties back to Julia’s identity as a technical computing language - and it’s consistent with the geometric visual language the main website already uses.

I tried some variants (AI-generated, the final one will need a pro’s input):

 ![humm_logo_attempt](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/2/5/251c67262dc161ec21f1cfda31d07149cf09df8c.jpeg)

There’s a lot of room for improvement and exploring variants, but curious to get people’s feedback and initial reactions to this.

Whatever the community picks, I’d just ask that we evaluate it as a design decision, not a technical one. The best mascot is the one that works everywhere it needs to.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gwr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/gwr/32/33632_2.png) [@gwr](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/gwr)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/120 "2026-04-16T22:26:28Z")

</div>

![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/7/7/77c36147fea5af967d6ae2e3eee2a2b555b1c047.jpeg)

Meet **Mantissa** – a contender with striking properties! 😉

[![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/c/a/ca53acca5cd4024411a986a02e2ca21c1e80ab18.jpeg "True Facts About The Mantis Shrimp") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5FEj9U-CJM)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![langestefan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/langestefan/32/207923_2.png) [@langestefan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/langestefan)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/121 "2026-04-16T23:09:21Z")

</div>

I always thought of Julia as being a cat: clean, elegant, intelligent, looks soft and fluffy on the outside, independent and universally loved by nerds. But if you get too close you might get scratched. And Python is more like a golden retriever: eager, friendly, shows up everywhere, occasionally drools on your carpet.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/dan/32/42581_2.png) [@Dan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Dan)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/122 "2026-04-16T23:21:37Z")

</div>

Didn’t see any O’Reilly book use the dodo 😜. It may be bad karma but perhaps Julia can help de-extinct it.

 ![dodo-julia](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/c/c/cc12fd004194ae8f09d16a682d17d81cb46daf90.jpeg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![franckgaga](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/franckgaga/32/218241_2.png) [@franckgaga](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/franckgaga)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 4:09am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/123 "2026-04-17T04:09:44Z")

</div>

+1 for **Mantissa**

[Previous page](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322.md?page=5)

[Next page](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322.md?page=7)