The Accounting Professional and its symbols and history!
Symbols give us freedom of thought when they aim to represent something too broad.
From everything that can be known about Mercury and the Caduceus, it is possible to admit that Accounting Professionals took this symbolism to mean that:
- our mission is divided as guardians of riches, which aim to supply the needs of men (just as Jupiter attributed to Mercury);
- we assume the role of protectors through agile information and its interpretation (by analogy with the art of prediction, which was an attribute of Mercury);
- we do not live in the evidence of the headlines, but in near anonymity, we are aware of everything and we are everywhere (every social cell has one or many Accounting Professionals), being entrusted with important and constant missions (just as was done with Mercury);
- we are able to control all management behavior through our methods, just like Mercury, who, when putting on his helmet, became invisible and controlled men's actions, keeping what he did secret by hiding himself materially;
- we use, in high doses, mental and intellectual resources to master a complex science that is only fully known through the use of reason, with maximum energy, with the use of rare intelligence, even if it is to begin our practices (as mythology suggests to the life of Mercury);
- we will always be extremely busy if we wish to exercise the profession proficiently, since the most delicate and confidential tasks of administration are entrusted to us (as was the case with the extremely busy and diligent Mercury);
- the speed at which practices occur in the lives of companies and institutions requires, on our part, a presence that forces us to be agile and vital, just as the Caduceus guarantees to Mercury, as herald of the gods.
Such considerations, arising from our observations and produced by associations of ideas, regarding what the symbol may represent to us, offer justification for the appropriateness with which such symbolism was chosen and how much we must always keep in mind about our ethical responsibilities.
The Caducel
The caduceus is a staff entwined with two serpents, which at the top has two small wings or a winged helmet. Its origin is explained rationally and historically by the supposed intervention of Mercury in the face of two fighting serpents, which were entwined around his staff. The Romans used the caduceus as a symbol of moral balance and good conduct: the staff expresses power; the two serpents, wisdom; the wings, diligence; and the helmet is emblematic of elevated thoughts.
The caduceus is currently the insignia of the Ukrainian Catholic bishop. From the point of view of the elements, it represents their integration, with the staff corresponding to earth, the wings to air, the serpents to water and fire (undulating movement of the wave and the flame).
The symbol is very ancient and can be found in India, engraved on stone tombstones called nagakals, a type of ex-voto that appears at the entrance to temples. Erich Zimmer derives the caduceus from Mesopotamia, where it can be seen on the sacrificial cup of King Gudea of Lagash (2,600 BC). Despite its distant date, the aforementioned author says that the symbol is probably earlier, considering that the Mesopotamians considered the two intertwined serpents as a symbol of the god who heals illnesses, a meaning that passed to Greece and to the emblems of our day.
From an esoteric point of view, the caduceus staff corresponds to the axis of the world and its serpents allude to the Kundalini force which, according to tantric teachings, remains dormant and coiled around itself at the base of the spine (symbol of the evolutionary faculty of pure energy).
According to Schneider, the two S's formed by the serpents correspond to illness and convalescence. In reality, what defines the essence of the caduceus is less the nature and meaning of its elements than its composition. The organization, through exact bilateral symmetry, like the Libra scales, or in the heraldic trinity (shield between two supports), always expresses the same idea of active balance, of opposing forces that counterpose each other to give rise to a static and superior form.
In the caduceus, this balanced binary character is double: there are serpents and wings, which ratify this supreme state of strength and self-control (and, consequently, of health) on the lower plane (serpents, instincts) and on the higher plane (wings, spirit). Ancient times, including the Greeks, attributed magical powers to the caduceus. There are legends that refer to the transformation into gold of everything that was touched by Mercury's caduceus (note the anticipation that the association of names determines, with respect to alchemy) and to its power to attract the souls of the dead. Even darkness could be converted into light by virtue of this symbol of the supreme force granted to its messenger by the father of the gods.
Hermes the Greek God
Owner of the caduceus, a magical object capable of turning whatever it touches into gold, the god Mercury “Hermes” was chosen as one of the symbols of Accounting, a science that ensures efficient business management. Worshipped as the god who provides fortune, Mercury represents the role played by Accounting Professionals in companies.
Called Hermes by the Greeks, Mercury is the son of the god Zeus and the nymph Maia and brother of Apollo. Having had a genius for barter since birth, Mercury is also the god of commerce. His talent with words earned him the title of god of eloquence and the role of messenger of Zeus.
Mercury was the busiest god, having more responsibilities than the others. His importance is demonstrated by the frequency with which he appears in mythology. Intelligent and perceptive, he invented the Lyre, made from a turtle shell. The musical instrument was given to Apollo, who was enchanted by the object and, in return, gave his younger brother the caduceus.
This object, which for the Romans indicated moral balance and good conduct, is also a symbol of Accounting. The caduceus is formed by a staff, two serpents, a helmet and a pair of wings that express, respectively, power, wisdom, diligence and elevated thoughts.
The Ring and the Stone
There are differences of opinion regarding the color of the stone on the Accounting Professional's ring, and there are also those who wish to establish one for the Accounting Technician, the pink stone, and another for the Accountant, the blue stone.
According to tradition, living the history of the Councils since they were born, the origin of the stone in our ring is pink in color, being a rubylite, according to professor Ynel Alves de Camargo.
This choice was due to the influence of Law on Accounting, which was very strong in past centuries; since the lawyer's stone was red, that of the Accounting Professional should have the same color, in another tone, since it was understood that the profession was most tied to the branch of legal knowledge (even today, tax, social security, labor, commercial, civil and administrative legislation greatly occupies the daily professional action and practice of accounting professionals).
This hypothesis is supported by the tablet of the law itself, which was also inserted as a symbol on our ring.
It was only from the ideas of the materialist accounting doctrine that it was understood that Accounting and Law have, in a very different way, methods and purposes of study, thus also justifying different symbologies.
The CFC (Federal Accounting Council), when adopting the recommendation of using a pink stone for a ring, stuck to its origins, a fact compatible with what is symbolic, since, in reality, the colors and figures, as an association of facts, are all tied to a tradition.
The important thing was to define the issue and this was done by the CFC with respect to ethics and a history that is very much ours.
April 25: Accounting Professional Day
The creator of Accountant's Day, João de Lyra Tavares, was born on November 23, 1871, in the city of Goiana, in Pernambuco, and died on December 30, 1930.
He was a bookkeeper, head of the office and of the company where he worked. As a businessman, he had a prominent role in Pernambuco. He founded a Bookkeepers Association in his state and was a member of the Commercial Association of Recife.
He was active in politics, a historian and economist, author of educational works and a scholar of geography. In 1914, at the invitation of the then minister Rivadávia Corrêa, he visited the city of Rio de Janeiro for the first time, at the time the capital of the Republic, where he took part in the Commission chosen to study the reorganization of the National Treasury Accounting.
The following year, João de Lyra Tavares was elected senator for Rio Grande do Norte, a position he held until the end of his life. In the Senate, he was an eminent member of the Finance Committee and always emphasized the benefits that Brazilian society would derive from the recognition of a class of public accountants.
In 1926, at a luncheon held in his honor by the Accounting Entities of São Paulo, João de Lyra Tavares was acclaimed president of the Supreme Council of the Brazilian Accountants' Class. On that occasion, he gave a speech defending the creation of the General Registry of Brazilian Accountants, a decisive milestone in the process of organizing Accountants on a professional basis, which culminated in the creation of the CFC/CRCs system, which occurred 20 years later.
Find out how this date came about
“Let us work together, so convinced of our triumph, that we now consider April 25th Brazilian Accountant’s Day.”
With this phrase, said in the middle of a speech thanking him for an honor he received from accounting professionals, the senator and Patron of Accountants, João Lyra, instituted Accountant's Day, promptly adopted by the accounting profession and, currently, made official in a large number of municipalities. It was the year 1926.
In December of the previous year, João Lyra had been elected president of the Perpetual Council of Brazilian Accountants and, throughout his parliamentary life, he proposed and had approved several laws to benefit the accounting profession.
In his acceptance speech, Lyra paid tribute to another great Accountant, Carlos de Carvalho: “When, in 1916, I justified, in the Federal Senate, the convenience of regularizing the practice of our profession, emphasizing the deserved and general trust that would come from the endorsement of the class, by its most circumspect representatives, of the moral and technical capacity of Accountants, it was the great and late master from São Paulo, an authority without equal in Brazil, as Mr. Amadeu Amaral rightly said, who addressed to me the first and most heartfelt protests of support and solidarity.”
Accountant's Day was officially established by State Law No. 1,989, on May 23, 1979.
Other commemorative dates:
January 12th – Accounting Entrepreneur Day;
September 21st – Saint Matthew’s Day (Patron Saint of the Accounting Professional); and
September 22nd – Accountant’s Day.
Origin of Accounting / Accounting in the Ancient World
Accounting has existed since the dawn of civilization and, for a long time, was considered the art of commercial bookkeeping. It used specific techniques, which were gradually perfected and specialized, some of which are still used today. It is equivalent to the period that began with human civilization and lasted until 1202 of the Christian era, when LIBER ABACI, written by LEONARDO PISANO, appeared.
Accounting in the Medieval World
Period that goes from 1202 of the Christian era until 1494, when the TRATACTUS DE COMPUTIS ET SCRIPTURIS (double-entry bookkeeping) by FREI LUCA PACIOLO appeared, published in the theory of positive and negative numbers, a work that contributed to inserting accounting among the branches of human knowledge.
Accounting in the Modern World / Accounting in the Scientific World
Period that goes from 1494 to 1840, with the publication of the work LA CONTABILITÁ APPLICATTA, a landmark work in the history of accounting, awarded by the Austrian government. The scientific period begins in 1840 and continues to this day. Note: Although the allegories and symbols inserted in the panel do not represent a faithful copy of existing representations, they are the result of free interpretation, especially because in the phenomenal world of the arts there are no limits to research.
The first meeting took place in the office of Accountant Miguel Pereira, on December 28, 1946. On that day, seven professionals attended: Miguel Pereira de Lacerda, José Marques Guimarães, Alberto Noce, Afonso Coutinho, Jader Teixeira de Assis, José Gonçalves Cota, and another whose signature was illegible.
Source: CRC Sao Paulo and CRC Minas Gerais.
