Hidden messages in company logos you see all the time

Does the yellow circle represent the sun? Nope! Turns out, the yellow circle is actually a bicycle wheel. The “R” in “tour” is a person, and the “O” in “tour” is the back bicycle wheel.

So, we thought the three-letter abbreviation was written out in a fancy script font – but we were wrong. The logo not only is an abbreviation of the London Symphony Orchestra, but it also represents an orchestra conductor. The “L” and “O” are his arms.

Are the L and the G cleverly configured into a smiley face, presumably the face of a happy LG customer? Nope. Eagle-eyed folks point out that if you tilt your head to the side, that smiley face actually looks like a modified version of Pacman. Perhaps an ode to the beloved arcade game character and the earlier days of personal technology? That’s up for speculation. According to LG, the logo stands for the world, future, youth, humanity and technology.

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You may think this logo is pretty cut and dry here with a capital P placed in the middle of a bright red circle. However, their signature “P” also doubles as an illustration of a map pin. According to CNBC, one of the designers of the Pinterest logo didn’t want to add the visual of an actual pin, but the final look came together organically.

With this earlier Formula One logo, you get a strong racing flare with the bold “F” and modern red flame motif, and you may feel the need for speed. But much like how the FedEx logo uses negative space to its advantage, so does Formula One. At first glance, you see the black “F” but if you look in the middle, the “1” in Formula One is clearly present in white.

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As Quiksilver’s female fashion line, the logo was indeed designed to attract its desired demographic. However, a closer look reveals so much more. The Roxy heart consists of two Quiksilver logos rotated to form the shape.

Considering the Unilever logo is everywhere on the company’s wide range of products, you’d think we would have looked deeper than only seeing the letter “U” formed using a decorative motif. Upon further inspection of the Unilever “U,” the logo uses symbols related to its extensive product offerings. That’s a pretty cool way to encapsulate what the company covers under its vast umbrella.

With its company name in lowercase bold type, we always paid much more attention to the word “Adidas” than anything else in the logo. Turns out, those diagonal stripes have meaning: They are intended to look like a mountain, the type of mountain an elite athlete would push him or herself to climb against all odds.

At first glance, we thought someone just really wanted to get fancy with their fonts for the word “Vaio,” but there’s meaning behind that original look. Sony wanted the logo to represent the integration of analog and digital technology. The “V” and “A” were drawn to show an analog wave. The “I” and “O” are there to represent binary code. For those not tech-savvy, binary is a computer language comprised of ones and zeros.

Initially, we assumed the IBM logo was supposed to look similar to if it had been run off one of the world’s primitive computer printers, horizontal lines and all. Turns out, those horizontal lines symbolize the equal sign, representing IBM’s dedication to equality.