Cutie marks


 * See also list of cutie marks

The My Little Pony franchise is famous for the symbolic cutie marks, unique tattoo-like features located on the ponies' flank or haunch. Cutie marks come in a wide variety of shapes and colors in My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. They are obtained when ponies discover a unique characteristic that sets themselves apart from others. Twilight demonstrates to Apple Bloom in Call of the Cutie that magic is unable to make a cutie mark appear, explaining that the mark will only appear in due course. Their meanings are not always literal: Cheerilee's cutie mark is three smiling flowers, and she explains it represent her wish that her students "bloom" and be happy.

Cutie marks, or lack thereof, have some social implications in Ponyville. Ponies who have yet to gain their mark, like Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, are derisively called "blank flanks" by Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara in the episode Call of the Cutie. In the same episode, a "cute-ceañera" is celebrated for those who have recently gotten their cutie marks. (The name of the celebration is a play on 'quinceañera', a celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America.) On the other hand, ponies like Twilight Sparkle consider those without a cutie mark to be lucky, who still get to experience "the thrill of discovering who they are, and what they're meant to be". This argument is also expressed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo who say about fellow "blank flank" Apple Bloom that "she's full of potential" and "could be great at anything".

Designs
Cutie marks are often a set of two or three objects or animals, and usually feature between one and three colors. For example, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack all have cutie marks with three objects, and all of their designs have only two colors. One of the few ponies with a cutie mark with more than three colors is Rainbow Dash, whose rainbow lightning bolt has four. The other ponies with four- or five-colored cutie marks feature a more detailed image, so many of the colors are only different to allow for shading.

Although cutie marks are supposed to be unique, background ponies' marks are often chosen at random from a set of 'stock' cutie marks. Earth ponies tend to have food-related or horseshoe marks, unicorns have astrological symbols, and Pegasus ponies have weather-related symbols. Music notes are another common mark, and are present on all three types of background ponies. Occasionally, an adult pony can be spotted without a cutie mark, which has been explained by Lauren Faust as an oversight due to time constraints.

Trivia

 * The term "cutie mark" is a play on "beauty mark," a term for a prominent facial mole. Such moles have sometimes been considered an attractive feature.
 * Lauren Faust, on the comments section of her deviantART page, relayed that the cutie marks of background ponies are chosen at random. She jokingly refers to them as "butt symbols."
 * Since most ponies are conceived as toys before they become characters, they are often named after their cutie marks. This conflicts with some elements in Friendship is Magic, for in the show, foals are born without their cutie marks and therefore cannot be named after them.
 * Zecora has a symbol reminiscent of one on her flank. Other ungulates like buffalo and cows are mark-less. This could be because zebras are so closely related to horses.

Gallery



 * Cutie mark image gallery