Since this discussion is apparently not quite exhausted, I hope I'm not out of place throwing my two-cents in.
I'm no designer, by a long chalk, but I just cobbled together a very simple 16x16 mock up. I am not at all suggesting THIS as a new icon, just an idea for a direction. The main emphasis here is the rounded shape with the cut-off corner which echoes the straight edge of the Y, as well as the X and Y mirroring one another. Colours and style are all, as I say, 'cobbled together'. It's got a slightly unusual shape without being unrecognisable, complicated - so it should scale up/down okay - or reminiscent of anything else (security shields?), but not so unusual as to be a million miles away from the current icon. You might even say it looked a little like some sort of filing card or ticket

There's plenty of scope for colour schemes, or for different things to be done with the lettering and border, too.
Anyway, here it is (in its teeny tiny form):
I've really been enjoying following this conversation and couldn't help my brain ticking a little, too

Keep it up guys.