When a group adopts a symbol they want it to be theirs and only theirs. They want it to stand for them or some aspect of what they do. They want you to think of them when you see that symbol. Some go so far as want other people to be afraid to use it for anything else but to represent them. When those who commonly use the symbol give up using it and agree it now belongs to that group, the people give up a part of their culture and their everyday life so that group can have an ideological safe space. That group now owns a small territory in everyone's mind. The common symbol that was part of everyday life becomes a symbol of that group alone.
