Better representative Maya icons

[evonannoredars]

The Maya have, in every game so far, suffered having icons that ultimately aren't very... Maya.

• Civ 4: A double-headed serpent - featured in Maya iconography too iirc, but the specific design is Aztec.
• Civ 5: The central face from the Aztec sun stone, as far as I can tell.
• Civ 6: The feathered serpent - more broadly Mesoamerican and I can't find a clear consensus on where the feathered serpent originated, but imo I'd associate it much more with Teotihuacan and either way it's too unspecifically Maya for my tastes.

And with Civ 7 apparently reusing some icons from Civ 6, it's a shame that we're getting the only loosely-Maya feathered serpent again, halting the (slow) trend in icons towards something more Maya. So, here's my little pitch for what would make a better icon, in case any devs happen to see this and are feeling influenceable My primary source for this is Reading Maya Art by Andrea Stone and Marc Zender.

A glyph seems the most obvious choice for an icon - although there was little distinction between writing and artwork to the Maya, glyphs and artwork followed the same iconographic system. Many glyphs however are far too complex to work as a small, easily quickly readable icon in a video game. Fortunately, there's a few that are simplistic enough, and the flexibility possible in glyphs means others can be simplified down. In no particular order (although 2 and 4 are my favourites):

1. 
   - IK' (Wind/Breath) - Not in glyph form, but the T-shaped IK' sign was reasonably significant iconography and is probably the simplest shape I could think of.
2. 
   - EK' (Star/Planet/Constellation) - The association between the Maya and astronomy is pretty common (unless this is an xkcd 2501 situation), and the glyph itself is pretty simple and aesthetically pleasing. The Maya are a scientific civ in Civ VII too, so linking in their astronomical knowledge further fits well.
3. 
   - PAKAL (Shield) - Although it looks complex, the hatched border can be rendered as a solid colour and the face as three dots. However, the field could hold a number of other images. Used at times as a military insignia, the shield would make a logical icon - although the Maya are diplomatic as their other attribute apparently (wonder if that might be a mistake, as they do seem more militaristic than diplomatic)
4. 
   ,
   
   - WAAY? (Cenote) - Another glyph that can be simplified significantly (see the simplified cenote depiction at the bottom-right of the second image), cenotes were important religious and ritual locations to the Maya. My only real justification for including it is that I think it is an extremely pretty glyph.
5. 
   - AK'AB (Darkness) - Another icon that's on this list more because it looks good than because it really represents the maya - although it is perhaps one of the more well-known and frequent glyphs in artwork, associated with underworld places and beings.
6. 
   - CH'ICH'? (Blood) - Unfortunately, I can't find a good version of this glyph on google! However, the glyph is the cartouche around the infixed AK'AB in the example, with a little smiley-face like symbol at the centre instead in my copy of Reading Maya Art. The cartouche form seems pretty iconic and could have a number of other glyphs infixed, but that may likely be too visually complex..

 

[Zaarin]

A glyph seems the most obvious choice for an icon

I'm not a big fan of using writing for icons personally. I thought the use of DINGIR for Sumer was kind of okay only because it's the deity determiner and Gilgamesh is said to be part god, but I really disliked the use of aleph for Phoenicia (the date palm or dolphin is the best icon for Phoenicia IMO).

 

[evonannoredars]

I'm not a big fan of using writing for icons personally. I thought the use of DINGIR for Sumer was kind of okay only because it's the deity determiner and Gilgamesh is said to be part god, but I really disliked the use of aleph for Phoenicia (the date palm or dolphin is the best icon for Phoenicia IMO).

I agree writing/letters as icons is weird, the omega for Greece feels v unsatisfactory, although I think Maya writing exists in a veryyy different context where 'writing' isn't a seperate entity to other sets of symbols/iconography a culture would possess, even compared to other logographic/syllabic writing systems
It might've been clearer for me to refer to it as maya iconography in the format of a glyph. The cenote for example appears the same as it would in artwork (the variation in design in the examples isn't dependant on writing vs art), it's merely squished down into the pebble-like glyph shape which would be most convenient for an icon. The current feathered serpent symbol is much like how the heads of people, gods and creatures were used as glyphs too, albeit stylised differently.

 

[notNamed]

Humankind had this (ignore the border, that's generic).

As far as Mayans go, you could still reuse the god idea but use Chaak instead.
A major diety for the Classical maya, tied to the rulers, cardinal directions with a fairly distinct design (the eyes and long nose) that was bountifully used in decorations of all their buildings.
Technically also one that spread to the rest of Mesoamerica but in other direction, from the Maya to the Mexico Valley.

When you threw a sacrifice down a cenote, you did so to appease Chaak and get him to make it rain.