The Cord That Binds
Where the word
comes from
The word was born in ancient Greece. Protokollon named the first leaf glued to the head of a scroll: the sheet that attested to what followed, that bound the whole and held it together.
In time it came to mean the ceremony of diplomacy. The cord that binds nation to nation, and person to person, in mutual regard. Not to divide, but to join.
What protocol is, at its heart, has not altered. It is the knowledge that lets respect pass between people and draws the world together. This association rests upon that one point.
The world at the centre
At the centre of our crest stands the globe. What this association answers to is not one nation, but the world entire.
The five stars encircling it mark the grades of accreditation. The laurel has signified merit and recognition since antiquity.
Every element sits upon the same circle, at equal distance from the centre and of equal weight. No culture, and no candidate, stands closer to this association than another. That is what the crest was made to show.
One sits the examination, is accredited, becomes a member, and in time stands among those who teach. One person’s path becomes the doorway for the next. What is learned is handed on, and carried outward into the world.
Japan to the world
The world to Japan
The earth as one