I discuss the factors that made necessary, the emergence of symbols. I note that the limitations of iconic representational systems paved the way for the development of symbolic thought when the need for this kind of thinking arose. I argue that the main reason why symbolic thought became advantageous to hominins is the need to establish and maintain social relationships that benefit a group. I also propose two additional reasons for symbolic thought. The need for social learning, especially as it relates to teaching tool-construction techniques, and the need for the group to come up with an effective management of intragroup social tensions and stress that resulted from the increase of the size of the group, and the demand for more cooperative activities. Finally, I discuss the relation between language and the cognitive capacities underlying symbol use. This relation can be explained by those theories that posit that the organizational features of language are a response to the pre-existing cognitive capacities of the human mind and, thus, languages are adapted to our minds rather than vice versa. Alternatively, it can be explained by theories that hold that language and cognitive capacities coevolved because although language requires certain cognitive capacities, the increasing socio-cultural pressures for more sophisticated language led to the cognitive changes that could support more sophisticated language-forms.