The Commonwealth Mermaid Logo

Inspired by the Mermaid of Warsaw, Commonwealth's mermaid logo has captured the school's ethos from its earliest days. In his 1982 memoir on founding Commonwealth, The Walled Garden, Charles Merrill wrote of the time he spent in Warsaw after World War II:

“These men and women had an intense conviction of the value of WWII—to stand up to the Germans, who had wanted to wipe out the city, and to the Russians, who had seen it as a docile provincial capital within the Soviet Union. One held to a faith in human spirit when there was little else to hold. Accordingly, I chose the Warsaw mermaid as my school’s symbol.”

Ever since, the mermaid has served as Commonwealth’s emblem, representing the strength of hope, and delighting the generations of Commonwealth students who have reveled in their small school’s unusual spirit.