The Foundation

The Foundation

The story of a special symbol

The symbol that is used in the Paulo Coelho & Christina Oiticica Charitable Foundation logo was originally designed by Christina Oiticica in the late Seventies. It became widely known as the Warrior of Light symbol, ever since Paulo started using it on his official website and in his works as a representation of the Warrior of Light.  This is the story of how the logo came about.

The Instituto Paulo Coelho

In 1977, Paulo and Christina founded the Instituto Paulo Coelho, a not-for-profit institution, exclusively financed by Paulo’s royalty payments.

The main idea behind the Institute was not – and still is not – to give hand-outs, but rather to provide opportunities for the disadvantaged in Brazilian society, and more specifically children.

After considering several options, Paulo and Christina decided to participate in supporting the Solar Meninos de Luz organisation in Rio de Janeiro, their hometown. At the time this charitable organisation cared for 80 children in the  communities Pavão-Pavãozinho and Cantagalo, in Rio de Janeiro, which at the time looked after 80 children and today cares for 400 young boys and girls.

The logo

Christina wanted to create the logo for the Instituto Paulo Coelho and she wanted it to express the power of their project – which was simple at its core, but ambitious for its results. She wanted something that embodied all the power, energy and good will that they were putting into the project.

The inspiration came to her in a dream. She saw large flapping wings, protecting the Earth everyone on it. When she woke up, she immediately realised that her dream was about Saint Michael, the Archangel, who is often depicted as an angelic warrior, armed with sword and shield. The logo is Christina’s interpretation of this sword and shield and represents both strength (the sword) and protection (the shield).

A couple of years later, due to its power and symbology, that very same logo was adopted by Paulo on his official site and is now representing the image of the Warrior of Light, which appears in many of his online texts and publications.

The symbol

Ever since, this symbol has been seen and is recognised and spread by thousands and thousands of people around the world. It appears on t-shirts, jewellery, cards, pins and even in tattoos.

This powerful symbol is now also used as the logo for the Paulo Coelho and Christina Oiticica Charitable Foundation.


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