Many speculate that the Zodiac Killer’s logo is a crosshair (Figure 1), given a gun was his weapon of choice, and others think his brand was inspired by a Zodiac watch (Figure 2).
But why would both the killer and the watch brand adopt the same emblem?
Interestingly, this symbol also represents a celestial Zodiac calendar.
Its four arms mark the date of equinoxes and solstices. The quadrants denote the duration of each season, each which equally house three of the twelve zodiac signs (Figure 3).
Examining the watch brand’s logo, it’s possible their circle represents the ecliptic, as it’s circle possesses an increase and decrease in the taper (Figure 4). These two opposite elements could symbolically represent the suns movements during the equinoxes and solstices. During the calendar year we experience two equinoxes, when the day and night are of equal length, and two solstices, when the sun is in the northern most or southern most positions in the sky.
The circle could represent the either zodiac belt or the ecliptic, the path traveled by the sun in the sky. The ecliptic is what determines your zodiac sign, as the sun moves through each sign over the course of the calendar year. However, both the zodiac belt and the ecliptic follow the same line in the sky.
The calendar theory gains support from other communications. In one letter, the Zodiac added five tick marks to his logo, which all line up with the months mentioned in the card sent a day prior, although, there were no known attacks in August (Figures 5, 6, & 7).
Furthermore, this symbol could also represent a calendar on the map accompanying the z32 cipher, considering it’s 12 equal divisions could represent the twelve months of the year or the twelve zodiac signs (Figure 6).
