13 Famous Brands with Interesting Stories Behind Their Logos and Names

All of us use products and services of dozens of different brands. At the same time, we rarely think about the story behind a certain brand name or logo. But the backstory behind a brand can tell us a lot about the original ideas of its founders. We put together 13 famous brands whose names and logos have an unusual idea behind them.

1. 7-Eleven

7-Eleven was founded in 1927 and originally called Tote’m Stores. This name referred to the fact that customers toted away their groceries. But in 1946, the company management decided to change the name to reflect the new extended business hours of the stores. The convenience store chain was open 7 days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. This name helped customers remember the hours in which they can go shopping. Later, almost all 7-Eleven stores started operating 24 hours a day, but the name didn’t change.

2. Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo is an Italian luxury car manufacturer. The designer used 2 heraldic devices in the logo which are traditionally associated with Milan, the city where the company was founded. On the left, you can see a red cross against the white background. This is one of the old emblems of Milan. On the right, there is the biscione, a big grass snake, which is the emblem of the House of Visconti, who ruled the city in the 14th century.

3. Cisco

Cisco is a large manufacturer of telecommunications equipment which is headquartered in San Jose, California. The city is located quite close to San Francisco to where the young founders of the company arrived to register their undertaking in the heart of Silicon Valley. The name “Cisco” are the last 5 letters of this city, and the Golden Gate Bridge became the inspiration for the creation of the logo which depicts the 2 towers of this bridge.

4. FedEx

FedEx Corporation was founded in 1971 under the name Federal Express. Later, they shortened the name in a way we know it today. One of the competitive advantages of FedEx is fast delivery, and the company’s logo is designed to remind its customers about it. The negative space between the “E” and the “X” forms an arrow. According to the designer’s idea, the logo promotes the company’s features of speed and precision.

5. LEGO

In 1934, Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen founded a company that originally produced stepladders, ironing boards, stools, and wooden toys. And he named it LEGO, which comes from the Danish phrase “Leg Godt,” meaning “Play Well” in English. Even though LEGO didn’t produce the colorful interlocking plastic bricks until 1949, the chosen name turned out to be prophetic and fitted the company’s new product perfectly.

6. Levi’s

Many people are aware that this famous brand of denim jeans was named after its founder, Levi Strauss. But the history of its logo is not well-known. In the beginning, the logo depicted 2 horses, and it was changed to a simple wordmark in bold red letters only in 1925.

In 1949, the colors were changed. The words became white placed on the red background. Then, in 1969, designers made the logo sleeker: the sides became slanted and the bottom looking like a wave. The idea was to mimics the Arc Stitching that appears in the back pocket of the jeans. But these waves reminded Levi Strauss of a bat spreading its wings. So, the current logo is called the Bat Wing.

7. NBC

NBC or National Broadcasting Company is one of the 3 largest American television companies. Sometimes, NBC is also referred to as the “Peacock Network” because of its stylized peacock logo. It was developed in 1956 to promote the company’s innovations in early color broadcasting.

8. Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines, an American airline that is now part of Delta Air Lines, did it best to make its logo simple and understandable. The logo shows the letter “N” which is also the letter “W” with an arrow pointing north-west.

9. Six Flags

The amusement park chain is named after its first location, Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. 6 flags symbolize 6 regions that governed the Lone Star State: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. Nowadays, the company runs 20 theme parks throughout North America, but its name still reflects the history of the first park.

10. Skype

The software Skype which was released in 2003 was originally called “Sky peer-to-peer.” This reflected the technology used in this service. Later, the name was shortened to “Skyper,” but it turned out that the domain name was already taken. So, the creators decided to drop the last “r” making it “Skype,” for which domain names were available.

11. Sony Ericsson

When Japanese corporation Sony and Swedish company Ericsson decided to make a joint product, their management didn’t waste time on the development of a brand name and logo. They just named it Sony Ericsson and chose a green-white ball which symbolized a merge of the letters “S” and “E” as its logo. However, the logo was developed with more distinctive features later, and it acquired its own name: “Liquid Energy.”

12. Tour de France

Tour de France is the most prestigious bicycle race in the world, which has been held in France since 1903. The first race was organized to increase sales for the newspaper L’Auto. But later, it was taken over by Amaury Sport Organization that runs sports events. The Tour de France logo reflects the essence of this race; you can see a cyclist in the first word of the brand name.

13. Twitter

In 2006, co-founder Jack Dorsey created Twitter as an online SMS service that would update in real-time on a webpage. Its working name was “Status,” but Dorsey wanted to create a buzzing feeling when you heard the company’s name. So, he thought of “Twitch” because that’s what a phone would do when it would vibrate. But eventually, he, together with his partners, searched different dictionaries and found the word “Twitter.” The definition was “a short burst of inconsequential information” and “chirps from birds.” The partners decided that it was a perfect name for their service.

Do you know any other brands that have an interesting story behind their name or logo?