This paper reviews and extends a formal model of multiagent symbol systems that define emergent symbolic behavior as a result of collective activities of very simple purely reactive components of the system. The formal model—the colony of grammars—is conceptually and technically rooted in the theory of formal grammars and languages (especially in the theory of grammar systems). This paper draws some parallels and sketches some principal differences between the symbol system model and real societies of behavior-based robotic systems of purely reactive components.