# Should Julia have an unofficial community mascot? If so, which one?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-julia-have-an-unofficial-community-mascot-if-so-which-one/136826>\
**Category:** Community\
**Tags:** marketing, branding, animals\
**Created:** [April 22, 2026, 10:37am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-julia-have-an-unofficial-community-mascot-if-so-which-one/136826 "2026-04-22T10:37:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Tamas\_Papp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tamas_papp/32/25949_2.png) [@Tamas\_Papp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Tamas_Papp)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2026, 11:24am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-julia-have-an-unofficial-community-mascot-if-so-which-one/136826/43 "2026-04-28T11:24:55Z")

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> [@gwr](#):
>
> I think you are optimizing too hard for manufacturability.

Exactly. Mascots are useful when they are physically embodied, in a plush toy, on a T-shirt, mug, or stickers. When the coffee mug becomes a conversation piece with a visitor to your office, or when the plush toy becomes a prized possession of nerdy pride.

Tux (Linux), Ferris (Rust), Octocat (Github), Wilber (Gimp), Xue (XFCE), the GNU wildebeast are all visually simple. Most of these are recognizable as silhouettes or in black and white.

> [@gwr](#):
>
> What matters is the final concept, not whether one sketch came from a notebook, Procreate, or a generator.

In theory, yes. In practice, I think that AI rendered images without a clear concept just sidetrack discussions. They are like visual popcorn.

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**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 28, 2026, 11:38am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-julia-have-an-unofficial-community-mascot-if-so-which-one/136826/44 "2026-04-28T11:38:24Z")

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> [@Tamas\_Papp](#):
>
> Tux (Linux), Ferris (Rust), Octocat (Github), Wilber (Gimp), Xue (XFCE), the GNU wildebeast are all visually simple.

I would argue that the GNU wildebeest is not simple.

> [@Tamas\_Papp](#):
>
> When the coffee mug becomes a conversation piece with a visitor to your office,

I would really start betting now that in a test with different coffee mugs showing, say, a penguin, a GNU wildebeest, and a [mantis shrimp](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/120) design, the mantis shrimp might not fare bad in initiating curiosity. 😉

People may even forgive it being AI inspired.

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**Author:** ![Tamas\_Papp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tamas_papp/32/25949_2.png) [@Tamas\_Papp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Tamas_Papp)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2026, 11:49am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-julia-have-an-unofficial-community-mascot-if-so-which-one/136826/45 "2026-04-28T11:49:41Z")

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> [@gwr](#):
>
> the GNU wildebeest is not simple

Depends on the variant. This is the Emacs splash screen:

 ![screenshot2026-04-28-134752](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/2/e/2e36eb52a2ef8c18f9acbf2a699df14fb455c5f9.png)

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**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 30, 2026, 6:55am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-julia-have-an-unofficial-community-mascot-if-so-which-one/136826/47 "2026-04-30T06:55:17Z")

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For completeness sake, I would enter [“Jules”](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/an-animal-for-julia/6322/149) the seal here, if a cute, plush-toy ready, simpler character is wanted.

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**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 30, 2026, 7:21am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-julia-have-an-unofficial-community-mascot-if-so-which-one/136826/48 "2026-04-30T07:21:06Z")

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Polling has closed and the results are in.

### YES, Julia should rather have a mascot (however official) than not

This was a close call and my hunch was that it were more like 60 : 40. Nevertheless, the yays have it.

### The HUMMINGBIRD is the overall winner in the mascot contest 🏆🎉

The (or better: a) hummingbird won the race, followed by the dragonfly / Julia skimmer proposal. This also met my expectations. 😉

### No serious candidate seems to have been missing

Here I had though that it might be closer, but the rather clear outcome 60 : 40 showed that the preselection after all was not so bad. Sorry, for “Dispatch” the walkie-talkie.

Thanks for participating and now it’s up to you all to use this piece of information or not.

Cheers.

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