Tuesday, May 12, 2009

14 of the Oldest Logos Still Used Today

I love the story Paul Rand and his refusal to redesign the GE logo (see below). It got me thinking- what other logos have had the same design for over 100 years?

Here, I put together a list of 14 logos that are still recognizable in the US that were registered in 1900 or earlier (I tried to limit the car and alcohol logos because they were the most common).

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Tiffany’s Tiffany Blue
1837


Brooks Bothers
1850
Fun fact: Brooks Brothers is oldest surviving men's clothier in the United States


Arm & Hammer
1860s
Fun fact: the Arm and Hammer logo represents Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking.


Guinness
1862
Fun fact: The symbol is the harp of Brian Boru, which was a symbol of Ireland since the reign of Henry VIII (16th century). Guinness adopted the harp as a logo in 1862; however, it faces left instead of right, as in the Irish coat of arms.


Red Cross
1864
Designed by Henri Dunant
Fun fact: The logo was established, along with the organization, at the Geneva Convention


Mitsubishi
1870
Designed by Yataro Iwasaki
Mitsubishi was started as a shipping firm and the three diamonds represented a ship's propellers.


Anheuser Busch
1872
Fun fact: The Budweiser Clydesdales were introduced on April 7, 1933, to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition for beer.


Bass
1875, but allegedly used since the 1600s
Fun fact: It’s one of the oldest logos in the world and is reg. no. 1 in the UK


Coca-Cola
1885
Designed by John Pemberton's partner and bookkeeper, Frank Mason Robinson


General Electric
1890
Designed by Emmanuel Orazi
Fun fact: Paul Rand was asked to redesign the logo in the mid-20th century. He refused to touch the "masterpiece" and prompted GE to keep their iconic Art Deco trademark.


Fruit of the Loom
1893
Designer: farmer Rufus Skeel, whose daughter painted pictures of red apples


Louis Vuitton
1896
Fun fact: The logo was originally created to prevent counterfeiting. Today, LV is one of the most heavily counterfeited in fashion history, with just over 1% of the items in circulation considered authentic.


Michelin
1898
Designed by O'Galop
Fun fact: Tires weren't colored black until 1912, which is why the Michelin man is white.


Goodyear
1900
Fun fact: The logo is based on a statue of Mercury from the Seiberling family’s home

This information came from all over the internet, including corporate websites, Wikipedia (totally legit), and:
http://www.dinesh.com

schwimmerlegal.com
logoorange.com
logodesignlove.com
logoblog.org
money.cnn.com
Let me know if there are any corrections or if you know any more!

 
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