A Symbol of Cowardice
The white feather as a symbol of cowardice supposedly comes from cockfighting and the belief that a cockerel sporting a white feather in its tail is likely to be a poor fighter. Pure-breed gamecocks do not show white feathers, so its presence indicates that the cockerel is an inferior cross-breed.
Read more about this topic: White Feather
Famous quotes containing the words symbol and/or cowardice:
“If we define a sign as an exact reference, it must include symbol because a symbol is an exact reference too. The difference seems to be that a sign is an exact reference to something definite and a symbol an exact reference to something indefinite.”
—William York Tindall (1903–1981)
“When cowardice is made respectable, its followers are without number both from among the weak and the strong; it easily becomes a fashion.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)