Yellow Sign - Definition and Overview

The Yellow Sign is a fictional symbol (glyph), first described in Robert Chambers' book of horror short stories titled The King in Yellow. Although the purpose and shape of the sign is never fully described, careful reading of the text of the story titled "The Repairer or Reputations" suggests that possession of a copy of the sign (even accidental) in some way makes a person susceptible to some insidious form of mind control on behalf of The King in Yellow or one of his heirs. The stories suggest that the original creator of the sign was not human, and possibly came from a strange alternate dimension which contains an ominous and ancient city known as Carcosa.

H. P. Lovecraft and many of his associates were great admirers of Chambers' book of short stories, and incorporated many of his characters and symbols into their own works. In the Cthulhu Mythos, developed by Lovecraft and his associates, the yellow sign is the sign of Hastur, one of whose avatars is the King in Yellow, and is used by members of Hastur's cult to identify each other. It is most commonly believed to be similar in appearance to a yellow triskelion (three-armed swastika), possibly representing tentacles, since Hastur himself is often described as an aquatic creature with tentacles. However, there are also other symbols which are claimed to be the sign.