The Oldest Logos That Still Exist Today

Phoebe Sweet
Written by: Phoebe Sweet
Posted on: November 2020
The Oldest Logos That Still Exist Today

A company’s logo is an essential element of their brand and allows consumers to quickly identify their products. While many companies will update and change their logo to fit modern times, some well-known brands have maintained the same company logo design for more than a century. Using the same imagery to represent their brand for so long has allowed these popular logos and brands to become some of the most recognizable to people all around the world. One example of this is the Coca-Cola Co., which has used the same cursive font for the logo on their products since 1887; they are now the fifth most recognizable brand in the world. The old logos that still exist today have all kept the distinct core elements that make them so recognizable, although some of the designs have been slightly altered over the years. Read on to see which company logos have stood the test of time in this timeline from Image Relay.

What Is the Oldest Logo That Still Exists Today?

Stella Artois has the oldest company logo still being used today, with its signature horn and star tracing back to 1366, when the Den Hoorn brewery was first founded in Belgium. This beer brand’s name wasn’t always Stella Artois, though. The name “Stella” means “star” in Latin and was inspired by the brewery’s first seasonal beer, called the Christmas Star. The name “Artois” is the company’s tribute to Sebastian Artois, the brewmaster at Den Hoorn. Despite the change in name, the horn and star of the old logo that once adorned the front of the original brewery is still a prominent feature in Stella Artois’s logo more than 600 years later. All logos on our list have been in use for more than a century.

The 10 Oldest Logos That Still Exist

    1. The Stella Artois logo was first used in 1366.

    1. The Twinings logo was first used in 1787.

    1. The American Red Cross logo was first used in 1864.

    1. Nestle’s logo was first used in 1868.

    1. Heinz’s logo was first used in 1869.

    1. Amstel Bier’s logo was first used in 1870.

    1. Mitsubishi’s logo was first used in 1873.

    1. Bass Ale’s logo was first used in 1876.

    1. John Deere’s logo was first used in 1876.

    1. The Boots logo was first used in 1883.

What Is the Oldest Unaltered Logo Still in Use Today?

British tea company Twinings has the oldest logo that has been in continuous use with no alterations made to the logo’s design. It was created for the tea company more than two centuries ago, in 1787. The company logo is based on the Twining family crest and also references China, from which the company exclusively sourced their tea. The simple word mark style of the Twinings logo will help it to remain timeless for centuries to come.

Does something seem different about the label on a Campbell’s soup can lately? The Campbell’s logo, which is based on founder Joseph Campbell’s original signature, has adorned their famous red and white soup cans for decades. Yet in 2021, the company decided to change things up and step into the 21st century by giving their classic logo a more modern look. The modernization of the Campbell’s soup logo may be inconspicuous at first, since it remains in the classic red font on a white background. The updates made to the famous logo include removing the shadow as well as removing the ligatures between letters. The update also included some callbacks to the original label design from 1898 by including the Campbell’s “C” in the fleur de lis at the bottom as well as the slanted “O” in “Soup.” When asked about modernizing one of the most famous logos, Campbell’s Chief Marketing Officer of Meals & Beverages Linda Lee said, “We’ve been on a journey to re-imagine this iconic brand and appeal to new generations of consumers who are cooking at home more than ever, while still honoring our rich history.”

What Is the Oldest Car Company Logo Still in Use?

The oldest of the car company logos still in use is Mitsubishi’s, with the red three-diamond emblem having been a prominent feature of the popular car brand’s logo since 1873. What does Mitsubishi’s logo represent? The original founder of Mitsubishi, Yataro Iwasaki, chose the three-diamond mark as the emblem to represent the three-leaf family crest of his first employer and to represent the three stacked rhombuses that make up Iwasaki’s family crest. The logo is also a direct representation of the company name, as “mitsu” means three while “hishi” is the Japanese word for a diamond or rhombus shape. In Japan, the “H” sound is pronounced more like a “B” when it’s in the middle of the word, hence why the company name is spelled and pronounced as Mitsubishi.

Do you store digital assets like your company logo separately from your product information? With Image Relay’s marketing delivery platform, you can keep all of your company’s brand graphics, other digital assets, and product information all on one platform for a fast and seamless creation and delivery experience.

The 25 Oldest Logos That Still Exist Today

Rank Company Year Company Was Founded Year Logo Was First Used Years Logo Has Been in Use Industry
1 Stella Artois 1366 1366 656 Beverage
2 Twinings 1706 1787 235 Beverage
3 American Red Cross 1864 1864 158 Humanitarian Aid
4 Nestle 1866 1868 154 Food
5 Heinz 1869 1869 153 Food
6 Amstel Bier 1870 1870 152 Beverage
7 Mitsubishi 1870 1873 149 Automotive
8 Bass Ale 1777 1876 146 Beverage
8 John Deere 1868 1876 146 Agricultural Machinery
10 Boots 1849 1883 139 Health and Beauty
11 Levi Strauss & Co. 1837 1886 136 Apparel and Accessories
12 Johnson & Johnson 1886 1887 135 Health and Beauty
12 Coca-Cola 1886 1887 135 Beverage
14 Union Pacific 1862 1888 134 Railroad
15 Underwood 1822 1895 127 Food
16 Prudential 1875 1896 126 Life Insurance
16 Louis Vuitton 1854 1896 126 Apparel and Accessories
18 Campbell’s 1869 1898 124 Food
18 Goodyear 1898 1898 124 Rubber and Plastics
20 Lindt 1845 1899 123 Food
21 General Electric 1892 1900 122 Electronics
22 Shell Oil 1833 1904 118 Energy
23 DuPont 1802 1907 115 Chemicals
24 Del Monte 1886 1909 113 Food
25 Sherwin-Williams 1866 1910 112 Paint and Coating Manufacturing

This timeline is brought to you by Image Relay digital asset management platforms (DAM) and product information management solutions (PIM). Start your Image Relay free trial now.

Embed Code:

<center>
<textarea readonly>
<a href="https://www.imagerelay.com/oldest-logos-that-still-exist-today/">
<img src="https://www.imagerelay.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/oldest-logos-still-exist-6.png" alt="The Oldest Logos That Still Exist Today -Image Relay Marketing Delivery - Infographic" title="The Oldest Logos That Still Exist
Today - ImageRelay.com - Infographic"></a><br><a
href="https://www.ImageRelay.com" alt="Image Relay Marketing Delivery"
title="ImageRelay.com">By ImageRelay.com</a>
</textarea>
</center>

Categories:
Digital Education
Phoebe Sweet
Written by: Phoebe Sweet
Posted on: November 2020