But have you ever stopped and wondered where it came from in the first place?

Let's find out on today's episode of Colossal Questions.

In case you didn't know, the actual heart that's ticking inside your chest doesn't look quite as nice as the heart shape we think of.

The actual heart looks like, well any other organ, gross and slimy with all kinds of weird veins, valves, and ventricles.

But that might make you wonder, where did the heart shape come from if it doesn't even look like a real human heart?

Well, nobody knows for sure, but there are three main theories.

The main theory, believe it or not, gives credit to an extinct North African plant.

You see, way back in ancient times, a Greek city in northern Africa became very wealthy selling a super rare plant called a silphium.

The plant was mainly used as a seasoning, but it also had another use.

People at the time believed if a woman ate silphium she wouldn't get pregnant.

The plant was so key to the city's economy that they minted their coins with the image of a silphium seed pod, which looks a lot like the heart shape.

As the theory goes, the symbol on the coins slowly became associated with having babies, then over time with love.

The second also puts the heart shape's origin in ancient Greece and in the hands of the famous philosopher, Aristotle.

Aristotle claimed that the heart was an organ with three chambers with rounded tops that come to a point at the bottom.

That description isn't exactly right.

Hearts only have two chambers.

But accurate or not, Aristotle's description may have inspired medieval artists to develop the heart shape that became a representation of love and romance over time.

Hearts could be found all over the medieval world: from works of art, to coats of arms, to common playing cards.

And just like that, the heart shape was widely known as a symbol of love and romance.

The final theory for where the heart shape came from is also the least romantic.

It was just a really easy shape to draw that kind of, sort of, maybe looks like a heart - who knows?

Sometimes the simplest answer is also the right one.

And now you know where the heart shape came from.

Comment below if you have a question you'd like to know the answer to.

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