- 🔀 For the short story by Robert W. Chambers, see "The Yellow Sign".
In the Cthulhu Mythos, The Yellow Sign is a symbol that is usually used by the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, a cult that worships the Great Old One Hastur. It is said that the symbol can bestow supernatural powers such as mind-control and possession, and is used to place individuals under the control of the King in Yellow.
Behind the Mythos[]
The Yellow Sign first appears in Robert W. Chambers' 1895 anthology The King in Yellow. As is the case with many who use the Yellow Sign, its exact nature is not made very clear, appearing to act as either a catalyst or invocation of the aforementioned King in Yellow.[1] Within the context of the Mythos, the Yellow Sign (and Hastur himself) are only offhandedly mentioned once in H. P. Lovecraft's 1931 novella The Whisperer in Darkness.[2]
Beyond the Lovecraft canon, many different Mythos authors have given and presented different interpretations of the Yellow Sign and its capabilities. Furthermore, it should be noted that despite being attributed to Chambers and Lovecraft, neither presented an actual design for the Yellow Sign. The most popular depiction of the Yellow Sign (see the image above) wasn't created until 1989 by Kevin A. Ross for his Call of Cthulhu role-play scenario "Tell me, have you seen the yellow sign?".[3]