# Who is Dash?
> Learn more about the Flutter and Dart mascot, Dash.
This is Dash:
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Dash is the mascot for the Dart language and the Flutter framework.
:::note
You can now make your **own** digital Dash using
[Dashatar][], a Flutter app for web and mobile!
:::
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[Dashatar]: https://dashatar-dev.web.app/#/
## How did it all start?
As soon as Shams Zakhour started working as a
Dart writer at Google in December 2013,
she started advocating for a Dart mascot.
After documenting Java for 14 years, she
had observed how beloved the Java mascot,
[Duke][], had become,
and she wanted something similar for Dart.
[Duke]: https://www.oracle.com/java/duke.html
But the idea didn't gain momentum until 2017,
when one of the Flutter engineers, Nina Chen,
suggested it on an internal mailing list.
The Flutter VP at the time, Joshy Joseph,
approved the idea and asked the
organizer for the [2018 Dart Conference][],
Linda Rasmussen, to make it happen.
[2018 Dart Conference]: https://events.dartlang.org/2018/dartconf/
Once Shams heard about these plans,
she rushed to Linda and asked to own and drive
the project to produce the plushies for the conference.
Linda had already elicited some design sketches,
which she handed off.
Starting with the sketches, Shams located a vendor
who could work within an aggressive deadline
(competing with Lunar New Year),
and started the process of creating
the specs for the plushy.
That's right, Dash was originally a
**Dart** mascot, not a Flutter mascot.
Here are some early mockups and one of the first prototypes:
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The first prototype had uneven eyes
## Why a hummingbird?
Early on, a hummingbird image was created for the Dart team
to use for presentations and the web.
The hummingbird represents that Dart is a speedy language.
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However, hummingbirds are pointed and angular
and we wanted a cuddly plushy, so we chose a round
hummingbird.
Shams specified which color would go where,
the tail shape, the tuft of hair, the eyes...all the
little details. The vendor sent the specs to two
manufacturers who returned the prototypes some weeks later.
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While the manufacturing process was proceeding,
Shams chose a name for the plushy: Dash,
because it was an early code name for the
Dart project, it was gender neutral,
and it seemed appropriate for a hummingbird.
Many boxes of Dash plushies arrived in
southern California just in time for the conference.
They were eagerly adopted by Dart _and_ Flutter enthusiasts.
The people have spoken, so Dash is now the mascot for Flutter **and** Dart.
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Dash 1.0
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Conference swag
Since the creation of Dash 1.0, we've made two more versions.
Marketing slightly changed the Dart and Flutter color scheme after
Dash 1.0 was created, so Dash 2.0 reflects the updated scheme
(which removed the green color).
Dash 2.1 is a smaller size and has a few more color
tweaks. The smaller size is easier to ship,
and fits better in a claw machine!
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Dash 2.0 and 2.1
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## Dash facts
* Dash is female, but she doesn't mind
being called _they_, _their_, _he_, or _him_.
* Dash has an [Instagram account][].
* Dash has a **straight** beak.
**Please, don't depict Dash with a curved beak.**
* We also have Mega-Dash, a life-sized mascot
who is currently resting in a Google office.
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Mega-Dash made her
first appearance at the [Flutter Interact][] event
in Brooklyn, New York, on December 11, 2019.
* We also have a Dash puppet that Shams made from
one of the first plushies.
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A number of our YouTube videos feature the Dash puppet,
voiced by Emily Fortuna, one of the early (and much loved)
Flutter Developer Advocates.
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[Flutter Interact]: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjxrf2q8roU0o0wKRJTjyN0pSUA6TI8lg
[Instagram account]: https://www.instagram.com/dash_the_dartlang_plushy/