Bowl of Hygieia Pharmacy Symbol

The Bowl of Hygeia symbol consists of a drinking vessel with a snake coiled around it. Hygeia was Aesculapius's daughter and a Greek Goddess of health.

The Bowl of Hygeia has been associated directly with the pharmacy profession since 1796, when the symbol was used on a coin minted for the Parisian Society of Pharmacy. Since then, the serpent has been associated with healing, whilst the bowl has come to represent a medicinal potion. This idea of "healing through medicine" is one of the major reasons the symbol has been used to represent many pharmaceutical associations world wide, such as: