Can 象徴 also be translated as "indication" or "omen"?


All the dictionaries that I checked translate 象徴 as "symbol". However, is it
also possible that in certain contexts 象徴 means "indication" or "omen"? The
reason I'm asking is because I'm struggling with a sentence that contains this
word and I'm pretty sure it would make absolutely no sense to translate it as
"symbol".

For example, the sentence in the link below:

<https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1337988533>

It seems to me like the author uses 象徴 in the sense of "indications" or
"signs".




I think the Chiebukuro question can be straightforwardly translated using
_symbol_ as "What is the thing that is considered as the symbol of the
disaster of the ice age?" This 象徴/symbol is used in the same manner as "The
lion is a symbol of courage."

By _indicator/sign/omen_ , do you mean "a precursor that happens **before**
some bad event"? Then, no, that's not what 象徴 means. 象徴 never refers to
something that portends an important event. _Omen_ is usually translated as 予兆
or 前兆 in Japanese, but not 象徴.

By the way, I think the correct answer of this chiebukuro question should be
"[甲鱗のワーム/Scaled Wurm](http://www.cardkingdom.com/mtg/ice-age/scaled-wurm) from
_Magic: The Gathering_. In the Japanese version of the flavor text of this
card, "they embodied the worst of the Ice Age" has been translated as
氷河期の災厄の象徴だった. Apparently 氷河期の災厄の象徴 is famous among Japanese MTG fans [as a
nickname of this
creature](https://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E6%B0%B7%E6%B2%B3%E6%9C%9F%E3%81%AE%E7%81%BD%E5%8E%84%E3%81%AE%E8%B1%A1%E5%BE%B4).
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