11/08/2021
25 Famous Company Logos & Their Hidden Meanings
We see them every day—in our homes, on TV, out in the street. They’re the famous logos of the brands we’ve come to know and love. These logos not only accurately represent the famous brands they’re attached to, they’ve become a part of our shared pop culture. Heck, someone even made a short film with logos and mascots comprising all of the characters, props and scenery.
Logos are practically enshrined by our society, and yet they were designed by people just like any other piece of graphic art. Getting to that upper echelon of the design world takes a lot of hard work, a lot of creativity and just a little bit of luck. Just about every major corporate logo has a fascinating story behind it.
For that purpose, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite world-famous logos with hidden meanings, secret truths and exciting origin stories behind their design.
1. Adidas
Conquering the mountain
Adidas has always been known for its simple three-stripe logo, the simplest form of which was first created in 1976. Back then, the three Adidas stripes were just three stripes and they didn’t have much meaning behind them—the brand just wanted something unique that would look good on a shoe.
In the 90’s, the logo was tweaked further and the three stripes were turned diagonally on their side to create the shape of a mountain peak. The new design kept the basic idea of the original logo while giving purpose to those three stripes, which now represent the struggle athletes must endure to achieve greatness
