{"id":5342,"date":"2015-03-03T06:00:36","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.companyfolders.com\/blog\/?p=5342"},"modified":"2026-03-11T15:05:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:05:05","slug":"25-famous-company-logos-hidden-meanings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.companyfolders.com\/blog\/25-famous-company-logos-hidden-meanings","title":{"rendered":"25 Famous Company Logos & Their Hidden Meanings"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nWe see them every day\u2014in 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<\/a> with logos and mascots comprising all of the characters, props and scenery.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Adidas<\/h2>\n

\"AdidasConquering the mountain<\/strong>
\nAdidas has always been known for its simple three-stripe logo<\/a>, 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\u2014the brand just wanted something unique that would look good on a shoe.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Amazon<\/h2>\n

\"AmazonEverything from A to Z<\/strong>
\nUpon first glance, what most people see in the logo Amazon has used since early 2000<\/a> is a smiling face, associating the brand with happiness and giving it a positive connotation. But that smiling face is doing much more than giving the audience emotional cues\u2014it’s also delivering a subliminal message.<\/p>\n

The smile itself is in the shape of an arrow that points from the letter “A” at the beginning of the word “Amazon” to the letter “Z” in the middle. This is to signify to the audience that Amazon sells “everything from A to Z.”<\/p>\n

Apple<\/h2>\n

\"AppleAn apple is just an apple<\/strong>
\nEven though the original logo for Apple featured an image of Sir Issac Newton, the father of gravity is not actually the reason why the fruit was picked to represent the computer company. The name Apple all comes down to a simple explanation\u2014Steve Jobs liked the sound of it.<\/p>\n

A lot of urban myths surround the Apple logo<\/a>, one being that the bite mark represents the apple of knowledge from the Garden of Eden. But the logo has an equally simple explanation as the company’s name. The logo is in the shape of an apple because the company is named Apple and the bite mark is only there to give the logo scale\u2014otherwise, people might confuse it for a cherry.<\/p>\n

BMW<\/h2>\n

\"BMWThe accidental propeller<\/strong>
\nThe German car company BMW was once known for creating more than automobiles\u2014they created aircraft engines, too. This has led many to believe that the white and blue checkered logo is designed to signify a plane’s white propeller with a blue sky behind it.<\/p>\n

While this makes for great branding today, this was not the original intention for the design.<\/p>\n

Back in the day, BMW wanted to use the colors of the Bavarian Free State in their logo, but doing so was illegal, so they reversed the colors and accidentally created the propeller design.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
The origin of the BMW logo<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>