The universal symbol of recovery is called the Recovery Triangle. It depicts the “Three Legacies” of our parent fellowship that have been adopted by our own fellowship–RECOVERY, UNITY and SERVICE.
Unity: Is about cohesion between the different elements of Cocaine Anonymous—unity between Groups, Districts, Areas and the World body. It’s also about our unity with each other as individual members. We must stand together or die alone.
Recovery: This represents the 12 Step program as outlined in the Big Book. It represents working through this program with a sponsor and becoming a sponsor ourselves.
Service: This represents committing to give back to our fellowship by engaging in service work within our fellowship. This includes chairing meetings, making coffee, setting up and cleaning up at meetings, attending our group’s business meetings and taking on service positions. It is each member’s responsibility to give back to the fellowship to ensure the doors always stay open for the newcomer.
The triangle is what is called an equilateral triangle, meaning that all three side of the triangle are equal. There is no longer side. This means that all three of the legacies are of equal importance to our recovery. It can be described in a metaphor of a three legged table. The triangular 3 legged table stands firmly on the ground. You can sit at it, work at it, and eat at it. But, remove just one of the three legs and the table falls over. It is no longer has stable. The recovery triangle works the same way. When all three legacies are present, our recovery is stable. When we remove just one of these legacies, our recovery will eventually fall over. Experience has shown us time and time again that those with long term recovery are consistently ensuring their recovery has all three sides of the triangle, that they have all three legacies present.