The Origins of the Medical Caduceus

Snakes are familiar symbols of healing because of their presence on the medical caduceus, the symbol of the herald’s wand used by Hermes.
The medical caduceus originated during WWII, when medics used it as a symbol for a truce. Its association with medicine goes back even further, to ancient Greece, where the snake entwined upon a walking staff was one of the accoutrements of the healer-god Asclepius.
The Asclepian staff has often been confused with the caduceus. Both were probably symbols of truce in wartime, but the Asclepian staff entwined by only one snake is regarded by Classicists as the true symbol of the medical profession.
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