ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses that the indicative element of insignia was constituted through a system of rules positive rights in insignia. Emile Durkheim relies on the observations of anthropologists drawing an analogy between Aboriginal paintings and carvings and coats of arms to conclude that Aboriginal art is insignia. Insignia have social significance as announcements, guarantees, and property claims, as well as making clear the force or status of a performative in terms of the status of an individual. The elements of indication and significance that we use to identify something as insignia are logically unrelated to its symbolic meaning. Aboriginal paintings appear to have the same kinds of performative significance as insignia do in own society: Morphy states: Many implicit sociological meanings can be inferred from the use of paintings in ritual. Morphy analyses the production of symbolic meaning through five categories: iconographic, reflectional, thematic, particularistic, and finally, sociological.
