Yellowjackets symbol: What does it stand for? Theories explored

One of the major mysteries in Yellowjackets, over the two seasons that the series has aired, is the symbol. It seems to depict an impaled human figure (probably female), with a hook at the bottom. Fans have debated over the meaning of the symbol ever since the show dropped in November 2021. The second season concluded in May 2023, but the symbol's meaning remains unclear.

Season 3 of Yellowjackets is scheduled to start on February 16, 2025. With the show's return, fans will once again hope to find a clarity on the symbol, and its meaning.

The Showtime series follows a group of women who are coming to terms with life after a horrific incident they faced together as teenagers. Back in 1996, they were part of a girls' soccer team and survived a plane crash in the wilderness. The series is split between the two timelines that depict them as teenagers caught in a gruesome survival drama, and as adults trying to reconcile with their actions of the past. The Showtime synopsis of Yellowjackets, according to IMDb, reads:

"Part survival epic, part psychological horror story, and part coming-of-age drama, Yellowjackets is the saga of a wildly talented girls high school soccer team, who become the unlucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. This series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team, to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they've attempted to piece back together twenty-five years later; proving that what lies in the past is never really past, and what began out in the wilderness is far from over."

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What does the Yellowjackets symbol mean?

Fans of Yellowjackets have come up with countless theories to explain the meaning of the symbol. Read on to know about a few popular ones.

The following are fans theories doing the rounds of the internet, and not confirmed by the creators of the show. Reader discretion is advised.

The symbol was a Hobo Code

As seen above, Winter_Yak_9031, a Reddit user, came up with a theory that the Yellowjackets symbol was used as a “Hobo Code,” using which the girls communicated with each other. Considering that the girls survived the wilderness for 19 months, they could have come up with a complex messaging system to survive the wild.

As the symbol was under a dead man in the first season, he might have been the one who drew it to warn anyone who may find the site. According to this fan theory, the various warnings associated with the this symbol could be, "Man with gun lives here", "Halt", "Doubtful", "Nothing here to be gained", or "Alcohol here." Additional meanings could also include “Get out fast” or “Dog lives here." It is to be noted that "dog" here mostly means "wolf".

The symbol could have been a map

Another popular theory of the Yellowjackets is that it served as a map. The theory is tied to a moment with a teacher in the pilot. We see the teacher complaining about the girls' cavalier attitude towards trigonometry, a branch of math referenced in subsequent episodes. They might have understood some trigonometry concepts while being stranded, and came up with the symbol to survive and communicate in the wild.

Symbol of a cannibalistic cult ritual

This dark fan theory suggests that the Yellowjackets symbol is an abstract interpretation of an icon used in a cannibalistic ritual. However, we don't know how the girls came up with a cannibalism ritual. The symbol can be interpreted as a human hung upside down on a hook.

The triangle stands for the body, the circle depicts the head, and the lines on the side are the arms. The human figure is hung on the hook to let it bleed. If the symbol represents a cannibalism ritual, the women might be afraid because someone knows about their cannibalistic past, and they could expose it.

Apart from these three, there are numerous fan theories suggesting the meaning behind this mysterious symbol. Perhaps, it will be answered in the upcoming third season.

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Is it a map, a secret message, or a symbol of a dark and disturbing ritual? In case you haven't seen Yellowjackets, you can catch the previous two seasons on Paramount+ with Showtime. The third season will premiere the first two episodes on February 14, 2025, and two days later, these will air on Showtime.