Abstract: In the paper the English and Chinese idioms which have the same or similar pragmatic meanings are called equivalent idioms.Iconicity of English and Chinese equivalent idioms is analyzed in terms of coherence of pragmatic meanings and designative meanings and implicit culture.It is illustrated that there are three kinds of English and Chinese equivalent idioms——completely equivalent idioms,idioms which have different designative meanings but have the same structure mode,and idioms which have different designative meanings and different structure mode.

Key words: equivalent idioms, iconicity, implicit culture