Unity in diversity

Participants at WikiConference India 2016 performing a dance entitled "Unity in Diversity".
Italian Nobel peace prize winner Ernesto Teodoro Moneta first adopted the motto In Varietate Concordia/In Varietate Unitas.

Unity in diversity is used as an expression of harmony and unity between dissimilar individuals or groups. It is a concept of "unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation"[1] that shifts focus from unity based on a mere tolerance of physical, cultural, linguistic, social, religious, political, ideological and/or psychological differences towards a more complex unity based on an understanding that difference enriches human interactions. The idea and related phrase is very old and dates back to ancient times in both Western and Eastern Old World cultures. It has applications in many fields, including ecology,[1] cosmology, philosophy,[2] religion[3] and politics.[4]

  1. ^ a b Lalonde 1994.
  2. ^ Kalin 2004b, p. 430.
  3. ^ Effendi 1938.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Eurominority was invoked but never defined (see the help page).