On his twentieth birthday, Valo created the heartagram, which would eventually become the symbol of HIM. A combination of a heart and a pentagram, the heartagram is meant to represent the juxtaposition of "the soft and the hard, the male and the female, the yin and the yang". Musically the heart is meant to represent the softer side of the band, while the pentagram conveys the heavier elements of their sound. Since its creation, Valo has stated that the heartagram "is probably the best thing ever come-up with", and that it's "worth a lot more than money" and "bigger than [the band". He noted in 2016, "There are a lot of people who have Heartagram tattoos now. Kat Von D has one, Steve-O has a dickagram, which is like a Heartagram but ends with a dick. It's started to have a life of its own: there are a lot of people who have them who don't actually know what it was, don't relate it to the band, and in that sense, I consider that to be my greatest achievement. So it'll be nice to have it on my tombstone. And it'll be nice to see where it's going to go next."