Signs are a call to action and Symbols are a call for information
...more powerful than a locomotive; and who loves to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
He often wears a blue leotard with a pink cape and boots; and he loves to change his clothes in telephone booths.
He is employed by a newspaper company, and he has a girl friend of questionable intelligence (she never recognizes him in his leotard without his glasses.)
All these threads of interrelated information, which we will call a concept, were brought into your consciousness by the the signal (the word) "Superman." That is what symbols in language do.
They bring into our minds information (concepts) that we can modify, enjoy, discard or use to plan our day. But typically, they are not calls to action.
Unlike signs that are typically linked to things (referents) by a relationship that is iconic or cause-and -effect, or based on a simple Pavlovian...(next page please)