The Academy’s emblem bears the maxim “ΑΠΑΝΤΩΝ ΤΙΜΙΩΤΕΡΟΝ ΠΑΤΡΙΣ” – which means “Homeland is the most honourable ideal”. This is a part of Socrates’ answer to his friend Crito, when he suggested an escape from prison, after his sentence to death by drinking hemlock.
The emblem bears both the owl, symbol of wisdom and knowledge in ancient Greece and a double axe which symbolises power.