We see the familiar heart symbol everywhere - in text messages, signs, cakes, clothing, balloons, games, and more. Lyric poetry, valentines, and emojis are identifying the heart with love. Venus, the goddess of love, was credited - or blamed - for setting hearts on fire with the help of her son Cupid, who aimed his darts at the human heart and always overpowered other emotions. But the symbol of the heart looks different from a real human heart. Some believe that the iconic pictogram is derived from the shape of ivy leaves, while others think it was modeled after parts of human anatomy. A lovely Pixel Heart progress bar for YouTube.