Can You Recognize These Brands from Their Original Logos?
Every iconic logo had to start somewhere — and most of them looked nothing like they do today. In this quiz, we describe the original logo of a famous brand. Can you guess which company it belongs to? Prepare to be shocked by how different these brands once looked.
The Quiz
1. This company's first logo in 1976 featured a detailed drawing of Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree, surrounded by an ornate border.
Reveal Answer
Apple
Fun fact: The original Apple logo was designed by co-founder Ronald Wayne and depicted Isaac Newton moments before an apple fell on his head. Steve Jobs thought it was too old-fashioned and commissioned Rob Janoff to design the now-iconic bitten apple in 1977. The bite was added to ensure the apple wasn't mistaken for a cherry or tomato. The rainbow stripes represented Apple's ability to display color on its computers.
2. This tech company's first logo was a bright red, italic wordmark that looked nothing like its current blue branding. Its founders designed it for free using a basic graphics program in 1998.
Reveal Answer
Fun fact: Sergey Brin designed the original Google logo himself using GIMP, a free image editing program, because the company had no money for a designer. The original was a red wordmark with an exclamation point (similar to Yahoo!). The multi-colored version came later, with the deliberate choice to use primary colors (blue, red, yellow) plus one secondary color (green) to show that Google "doesn't follow rules."
3. This global mobile phone brand originally had a logo featuring a fish, because the company was founded in a Finnish town known for its black-backed fish species.
Reveal Answer
Nokia
Fun fact: Nokia was founded in 1865 as a pulp mill, not a technology company. Its early logo featured a fish (a salmon) because the company was based in the town of Nokia, Finland, which sits on the Nokianvirta river, famous for its dark-colored fish. The company went through rubber boots, cables, and military equipment before making its first mobile phone in 1982. The fish logo was used until the 1960s.
4. This fashion brand's first logo in 1971 was a leaf with a hole in it, designed by a college student for just $35. It's been modified but never replaced.
Reveal Answer
Nike
Fun fact: Wait — it wasn't a leaf, it was a swoosh! But the price is real. Graphic design student Carolyn Davidson was paid just $35 for the Nike Swoosh in 1971. Phil Knight reportedly told her, "I don't love it, but maybe it will grow on me." She was later given a gold Swoosh ring and Nike stock in appreciation. The Swoosh is now one of the most recognized logos in the world, valued at over $30 billion.
5. This Korean tech giant's original logo featured three stars in a black-and-white design. The company name literally means "three stars" in Korean.
Reveal Answer
Samsung
Fun fact: "Samsung" translates to "three stars" in Korean — "sam" means three and "sung" means stars. Founder Lee Byung-chul chose the name because he wanted the company to be powerful and eternal, like stars. The original logo showed three stars explicitly. Samsung started as a trading company selling dried fish, noodles, and vegetables in 1938 before eventually becoming the technology powerhouse we know today.
6. This soda brand's original 1898 logo was a swirling red script that closely resembled its competitor's handwriting-style logo — intentionally.
Reveal Answer
Pepsi
Fun fact: Pepsi's original logo was deliberately designed to look similar to Coca-Cola's Spencerian script. The brand was originally called "Brad's Drink" after its inventor, Caleb Bradham. It was renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898 (from the digestive enzyme pepsin). Pepsi has undergone over 10 major logo redesigns. The 2008 redesign reportedly cost $1 million, and the design agency's 27-page document justifying the new logo referenced the golden ratio, the Mona Lisa, and magnetic field theory.
7. This streaming service's original 2000 logo was a purple and white design with a film reel shadow behind it — nothing like today's simple red wordmark.
Reveal Answer
Netflix
Fun fact: Netflix started in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail service, and its original logo reflected that physical media heritage. The film reel shadow was dropped as the company pivoted to streaming. The current minimalist red logo was introduced in 2014. Co-founder Reed Hastings chose the name Netflix by combining "internet" and "flicks." The company famously mailed its first DVD rental in 1998 — it was a copy of Beetlejuice.
8. This coffee chain's original 1971 logo featured a topless twin-tailed mermaid (siren) that was far more anatomically detailed than today's version.
Reveal Answer
Starbucks
Fun fact: The original 1971 Starbucks logo featured a bare-breasted siren based on a 15th-century Norse woodcut. The company has gradually "covered up" the siren over four redesigns — first adding hair to cover the chest (1987), then cropping the image to show less of her body (1992), and finally zooming in on just her face and crown (2011). The name "Starbucks" comes from the first mate in the novel Moby-Dick.
9. This car company's original 1909 logo was a highly detailed illustration of the city of Detroit's skyline inside an oval, far from today's simple blue oval.
Reveal Answer
Ford
Fun fact: Henry Ford's original logo was ornate and complex. The current "Ford" script in a blue oval was introduced in 1927 and has remained largely unchanged since. The script is based on the actual handwriting of Henry Ford's chief engineer, Childe Harold Wills, who designed it using his grandfather's stencil set. Ford is one of the few car companies that has kept essentially the same logo for nearly 100 years.
10. This social media platform's original logo featured a cartoonish blue bird that was purchased from a stock photo website for approximately $15.
Reveal Answer
Twitter (now X)
Fun fact: The original Twitter bird was a $15 stock illustration purchased from iStockphoto by co-founder Biz Stone. Designer Simon Oxley received no royalties beyond the original stock photo payment. In 2012, Twitter redesigned the bird into the iconic simplified version named "Larry" (after NBA player Larry Bird). In 2023, Elon Musk replaced the entire bird logo with an "X," ending one of tech's most recognizable brand identities.
How Did You Score?
8–10 correct: You know logo history like a branding professor. Outstanding!
5–7 correct: Great brand knowledge! Some of these origin stories are genuinely obscure.
0–4 correct: These are meant to surprise you — most people have no idea what their favorite brands originally looked like!
