Question

Can symbols have more than one meaning? How can you explain this?

Answer 1

Hint:
1. A symbol is the mark, sign, or word that indicates a concept, entity, or relationship, signifies or is interpreted as representing.
2. By making associations between otherwise very different ideas and experiences, symbols encourage people to go beyond what is known or seen.
3. By the use of symbols, all communication (and data processing) is accomplished.

Complete answer:
i) Symbols are essentially very culturally-rooted metaphors, so if you don't know enough about a culture, you might have only one understanding that you can affirm easily.
ii)But if we know enough, we'd know that there could be several different interpretations. However, if you don't consider meaning, it doesn't necessarily mean they're all right.
iii) We have discovered, for example, that jazz can be a contribution to society that people like E. B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes, since it came about in 1919 ~ 1939 (the Harlem Renaissance), a period when these people wanted to make great art.
iv)Therefore, our initial understanding is that you might call jazz a sign of the creativity of black people and their contribution to society.

Here are rational explanations that we may think of after further thought:
i) Because it diverges from the structure and traditional harmonies of classical music or the amount of improvisation involved compared to classical music, it is a sign of musical ingenuity.
ii) It was a sign of violating social norms because of how it impacted young people in the '50s in terms of interracial sex and drugs.
iii) And some unreasonable interpretations are here:
iv) A symbol of cats playing music with opposable thumbs instead of just beings (jazz has nothing to do with cats vs. human beings can play a keyboard).
v) A symbol of art (too general/broad; jazz is a form of art, besides, and it does not have to be symbolically discussed to express that).

Note: Words, sounds, movements, thoughts, or visual images take symbols and are used to express other ideas and beliefs. For example, a red octagon is a common symbol for "STOP"; on maps, blue lines often depict rivers; and a red rose often symbolizes love and compassion.