Where the puzzle piece came from
The puzzle piece goes back to 1963, when the UK’s National Autistic Society adopted it as its logo, chosen to suggest that autism was a puzzling condition. It spread with awareness campaigns for decades, often in blue, and became tied to organisations focused on finding causes and cures.
Many autistic adults have pushed back on it for years. A puzzle piece says something is missing, or that autistic people are a problem for others to solve. It was chosen for autistic people, not by them.
What the infinity symbol means
The infinity loop came from the community itself. A rainbow infinity stands for neurodiversity: the endless variety of human brains. A gold infinity stands for autism specifically, because Au is the chemical symbol for gold. You’ll often see it on Autistic Pride Day (June 18), which autistic people started in 2005.
What we do
We use infinity symbols and plain words, and no puzzle pieces, ever. During Autism Acceptance Month (April, and October in Canada) we say acceptance rather than awareness, because most autistic people already know everyone is aware: what we need is to be accepted. See the pride collection.
Quick answers
What does the gold infinity symbol mean?
Autism. Au is the chemical symbol for gold, so a gold infinity loop is a nod to “Au-tism”, and a symbol many autistic people picked for themselves.
What does the rainbow infinity symbol mean?
Neurodiversity as a whole: the infinite variety of human brains, autistic, ADHD and everyone else.
Is the puzzle piece offensive?
Many autistic adults dislike it. It suggests something missing or a problem to be solved, and it’s tied to organisations that focused on cures. Some families still use it with good intentions, but we don’t.