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The medallion carries a name, a face, a cap, a motto and a sign. Here is how to read each part.

The TIPCS emblem: a gold medallion with a profile portrait of Habib Bourguiba as a young student and the motto Carthago instauranda est

Reading the emblem

A logo is a promise made visible. TIPCS adopted this one to say where the institute comes from and what it is for: a young learner, a Carthaginian motto, a sign of wisdom and three languages.

  1. 1The ring
  2. 2The portrait
  3. 3The shashia
  4. 4The motto
  5. 5The Tanit sign
  6. 6Three languages
  7. 7The colour

1 · The ring

Tunisian Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies

The full name runs around the medallion, as on a coin or a seal: an institution that signs what it publishes.

2 · The portrait

Habib Bourguiba as a young pupil

The medallion shows Habib Bourguiba (1903–2000) as a young student, not the statesman at the height of power. He later led Tunisia to independence in 1956 and became its first president. The choice honours the curious pupil who dreamed of a nation built on education, dignity and progress: perpetual learning in service of peace.

Black-and-white class photograph of pupils in the early twentieth century, several wearing the red chechia
Class photograph described as showing the young Bourguiba. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

3 · The shashia

The traditional red cap

The portrait wears the shashia (chechia), the red felt cap that is a mark of Tunisian dress and a craft of the Tunis medina. It is a deliberate sign of belonging: the institute speaks from Tunisia, with Tunisian roots, to a Mediterranean and global audience.

A craftsman at work in a workshop in the Tunis medina, with red felt chechias stacked around him
A chechia maker in the Tunis medina. Photo: David Stanley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

4 · The motto

Carthago instauranda est

Latin for “Carthage must be restored” (or rebuilt). It answers Cato the Elder’s famous “Carthago delenda est”, “Carthage must be destroyed”: where Rome ended with destruction, the institute chooses reconstruction, a Mediterranean covenant to restore what conflict destroys.

Ruins of the Punic quarter on Byrsa hill in Carthage, seen from above
Ruins of the Punic quarter on Byrsa hill, Carthage. Photo: BishkekRocks, 2004, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

5 · The Tanit sign

Tanit, a Carthaginian emblem

The sign of Tanit, a triangle topped by a bar and a disc, marks many Punic stelae from Carthage. Tanit was the principal goddess of Carthage; TIPCS reads the sign as a reminder that peace-building is both a science and a duty of care.

A Punic stone stela with the sign of Tanit carved on it, in the Tophet of Carthage
Punic stela with the sign of Tanit, Tophet of Carthage. Photo: Shoestring (Wikivoyage), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

6 · Three languages

Arabic, French, English

The identity is trilingual, like the institute: Arabic, French and English, the bridges it builds between cultures. The name is carried in all three on the official documents and on this website.

  • الإنشاء التونسي لدراسات السلام والصراع
  • Institution Tunisienne pour les Études de la Paix et de Conflit
  • Tunisian Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies

7 · The colour

One gold

A single gold, used across this website for accents. It recalls the mosaics and coins of ancient Carthage and keeps the mark sober.

Why Carthage

Carthage was a Mediterranean power of trade, diplomacy and ideas before Rome razed it in 146 BC. Its ruins, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, sit a few kilometres from Tunis.

TIPCS takes that long Mediterranean tradition of exchange and negotiation as its ground: peace built through institutions and patient dialogue, not imposed.

Ruins of the Antonine Baths at Carthage, Tunisia
Antonine Baths at Carthage. Photo: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Using the logo

Download the logo and read the rules for press and partners on the Media page.

Download logo (PNG)Media page

Sources