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This is one of the most common structures in Western ideography. The signs  ,  ,  , and  are used with different meanings in some 30 well-known ideographic systems from the Bronze Age to the present day, and in many alphabetical writing systems. The structure is especially common in modern-day technical and scientific systems (mainly because it is a letter in the Greek alphabet). One should not forget the use of as a sign for the number three.
The sign has been used to represent fire in alchemy and a modern day reflection of this use is the logotype of MacDonald's. In some modern military contexts it indicates air transportation, and in art it is a common (pictorial) sign for a flying bird.
Turned upside down, , it is used in some meteorological systems as a sign for certain types of high, thin clouds.
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