It's etymology time, guys: that most magical time of the year.

This symbol is a twofer—tests and devices—so let's take a look at those words under the microscope of linguistic origins.

Before a "test" was synonymous with that horrible page full of unsolved multiplication tables you got in third grade, it meant:

[…] small vessel used for assaying precious metals […] Sense of "trial or examination to determine the correctness of something […]" (Source)

In other words, a test determined first whether a metal was real or fake (think gold or fool's gold) and then was a general way to figure out whether something was "right."

And device? That originally meant:

[…] "method by which something is divided" […] (Source)

Now let's switch gears and check out one of the instances in which "test or device" is mentioned in the Voting Rights Act:

If in a proceeding instituted by the Attorney General under any statute to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth amendment in any State or political subdivision the court finds that a test or device has been used for the purpose or with the effect of denying or abridging the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color, it shall suspend the use of tests and devices in such State or political subdivisions as the court shall determine is appropriate and for such period as it deems necessary. (3.b.1)

These tests and devices were, thanks to the Voting Rights Act, abolished. And knowing what we know now about the origins of these words, this is speaking on a deeper level about equality. No American should be subject to either a) something that is set out to determine their "correctness," because being an American citizen is "correct" enough as it is or b) something that's designed to "divide."

America: 100% correct and 100% indivisible.

Hey, that word "indivisible" reminds us of something else: the Pledge of Allegiance. Remember that part in the Pledge of Allegiance that describes America as "indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"?

Yeah. We think that's exactly what the Voting Rights Act was aiming for.