As a proud member of Generation X, I sat in a café at Hotel V in Amsterdam and pondered the meaning of the red, black and white XXX flags I kept seeing on the boats and buildings of the beautifully damp city.   I asked the Dutch waitress (probably Gen Z) what the significance of the 3 Xs was, and she said she didn’t know but she came back 20 minutes later to explain that it represented the three values of Amsterdam- Valiant, Steadfast and Compassionate.

After doing more research on the topic, I learned that the Xs are taken from the coat of arms of Amsterdam which consists of red shield with three silver (white) St. Andrew’s crosses on a black stripe, the imperial crown of Austria, two golden lions and the motto of the city– Heldhaftig (heroic), Vastberaden (resolute), Barmhartig (merciful).

So the mystery was solved and I was happy to know that the triple Xs didn’t represent the infamous red-light district of Amsterdam!

The letter X has been on my mind lately and certainty front and center in the news as Elon Musk boldly rebranded the company Twitter to X.  Mr. Musk even erected a huge, white light X sign on the top of the HQ building in San Francisco, which the city ordered him to remove within 3 days.   

The future of X is unknown but it’s eXciting nonetheless.

Other reasons I’ve been interested in all things X lately are:

1) the generational differences and challenges among Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Zers.

2) the focus of the biology of female sex chromosomes XX in the context of Transgender ideology and the Save Women Sports movement.

 3) the many symbolic, mysterious and seemingly opposite meanings:  harmony and balance, censorship and porn, toxicity and error, and death and rebirth.

What does it all mean?

As an eager student in 8^th grade Algebra class, I was always excited when I would “solve for X”.  I loved setting up the equations and writing out the values of the known variables.  The challenge was a fun puzzle that made sense to me.

As a driven IT professional and sci-fi nerd in the 1990s, I was a super fan of the X-Files and even changed my hairstyle and color to emulate Agent Scully.

As a curious traveler and writer, I marvel at the rich history and meaning in the Old World’s art, flags, and symbols.

X marks the spot of the buried treasure and is clearly the Most Powerful Letter in the alphabet. Its countless meanings in the areas of science, algebra, sports, astronomy and spirituality. Symbolizing Danger, a Kiss, a Strike, the Unknown, Death, Transcendence, Poison, Sex, and Rejection– this letter is amazingly mystifying.

There is so much more to share on this topic, but I like to keep my blogs short, so I’ll end with this.

As an inquisitive member of Generation X, I feel more affinity than ever to the extraordinary letter X.  People born between the years 1965 and 1980 tend not to want to be defined and don’t like labels (especially “latchkey kids”).  I do agree that most Gen Xer are independent, resourceful, and flexible. Plus, my generation inspired the incredible series Stranger Things.  

While I don’t think I’ve Solved for X in this brief article, I have exposed more of its significance and history.

I encourage you to explore more on the magical meaning of X and perhaps you can solve for it.