Why does the Baskin-Robbins logo hide a 31? 10 symbols, decoded

Visual symbols are making a comeback. Audiences are getting better at decoding icons, which raises the bar for logos. When companies sit down to craft a good one, they must make sure it’s memorable, iconic, and simple enough for a child to draw. Of course, the best logos will also contain information about the spirit of the brands they stand for. Let’s take a look at the meanings behind some of the most interesting brand emblems.

Sirens are a symbol of allure. It’s fitting that they should be the iconic crest of one of the most famous coffee brands in the world. Designer Terry Heckler chose to refer to the exotic origins of "Coffee-Tea-Spices" and its seafaring traders through this image, inspired by a 16th-century maritime Norse woodcut. This was also to match the spirit of the original name: "Starbuck", a character in Melville’s famous Moby Dick.

The logo of the two-tailed siren has evolved since the brand’s creation in 1971. You’ll notice that the official version until 2011 used to have the Starbucks text wrapped around it. The need for text became less relevant with the international success and fame of the brand. Now, the smiling siren alone is enough to represent Starbucks.

Land, sea, and air: Those were the three terrains Mercedes-Benz hoped to dominate. The three-pointed star that is the emblem of all its vehicles symbolizes the company’s prowess at building motors for transportation in the three fields.

The logo was designed by Paul and Adolf Daimler, the sons of Mercedes’ co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler. They based the idea on a star their father had once drawn on an old postcard, marking their home: to them, this stood as an inside wink to their family. For a few years, the logo incorporated a laurel ring around the star representing victory. This was eventually replaced by a simple circle, which led to the enclosed three-pointed star we know today.

Can you see the bear? In case you never noticed, there’s one hidden in the shading of the mountain. When Toblerone was introduced in 1908, co-creator Theodor Tobler stated that the Swiss Alps had inspired him to give the chocolate bars their iconic triangular motif. The bear was incorporated in honor of the heraldic emblem of Bern, where the chocolate was produced. Its figure is hidden in the design, which allegedly represents the iconic Matterhorn mountain.

Unfortunately, in 2023, the brand announced its need to modify its legendary logo. Switzerland no longer allowed the inclusion of national symbols in the brand when the company relocated its production to Slovakia.

Have you ever been intrigued by the logo of one of the most famous media brands in the world? Why does it look like a buzzing neon sign?

Since its inception, TikTok has sought to inspire creativity and connection in its users. Because it was, at its core, a music-based platform where people would dance, move, or sing, the logo was purposely designed to evoke the feel of music, rhythm, and movement. Hence, the "T" shaped like a musical eighth note and the vibrant lines on its sides. These were added to recall the sensation of joy and dynamism of live concerts and to emphasize the concept of TikTok as a "stage."

The French luxury sports fashion brand is easy to spot. The green crocodile always stands out in their famous plain tennis shirts.

But why a crocodile? The symbol is straightforward. Creator René Lacoste was a famous French tennis player. One time, before a match, the athlete bet his team captain a crocodile-skin suitcase that he would win. After this, the American press jokingly nicknamed him "The Crocodile." French fans continued to call him that, admiring his attitude on the tennis court. Eventually, Lacoste designed and wore the iconic tennis shirt with an embroidered crocodile, which he later sold as a product, giving birth to the company.

The pink-and-brown logo of Baskin-Robbins might remind you of strawberries and chocolate, but more flavors are hidden in it. 31, to be precise. The pink digits in the "B-R" are there to remind you of the 31 different ice creams the company had to offer when it was born, back in 1945. 31 was the resulting number after brothers-in-law Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins merged their respective ice cream parlors.

Still, since its creation, the company has gone from having one flavor for each day of the month to developing an array of over 1,400. That’s around one flavor for each day for three years and seven months.

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) didn’t need an eye-catching logo back when it was just a radio network. There was a time when the black serif letters "NBC" were enough to represent it. It all changed, however, in the 1950s when TV programming in color emerged, and RCA, which owned NBC, wanted to promote the purchasing of color TV sets.

To symbolize the new era of TV, NBC transformed its logo into one featuring a peacock surrounded by vibrant, multicolored feathers. The original version showcased a rainbow of 11 hues. Years later, the drawing was simplified and the feathers were reduced to 6 so that each would represent a different division of the network: news, sports, entertainment, stations, network, and productions.

Guinness beer has been produced in Irish territory since 1759. Back in 1862, the company chose the heraldic symbol of Ireland to label their ales. The design is that of a specific harp, called the "Brian Boru harp," which is on display at Trinity College Dublin today.

Guinness as a symbol is so ingrained in Irish culture that by the time the country was independent and the Free State Government of 1922 had to officialize the State emblem, the particular image of the Irish harp was already taken. If you pay attention, you’ll see that the harp in Irish coinage has its straight edge facing right, and Guinness’s has its edge facing left. This was the solution they arrived at.

Have you ever seen the very first Apple logo? It was created in 1976 by co-founder Ronald Wayne. It was a sketch illustration in full detail of Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree, in front of a radiant landscape, surrounded by a flowing ribbon with the words "Apple Computer Co."

Beautiful as it was, the image was hardly representative of an innovative technology-developing company. A year later, designer Rob Janoff reduced the whole concept to the now iconically simple outline of the bitten apple that we all know. The detail of the bite was just added for scale so that people wouldn’t mistake the fruit for a cherry.

Very few brands have a logo so famous that it gets its own name. But that’s the case for Adidas’ "Three Stripes." The trademarked symbol of three parallel lines already traced the sporting footwear designed by Adolf Dassler’s brand in 1949. Although this was initially an aesthetic decision to make the shoes stand out, eventually the three bars were incorporated into the logos.

Over the years, Adidas has created different logos to represent its different branches, like its Originals or Performance products. Whether it be the staggered lines symbolizing the challenge of climbing a mountain or the trefoil version representing the brand’s diversity of apparel, every image of Adidas is crossed by the three iconic lines.

Kick-off your vocabulary

In the limelight: 10 show-biz idioms and expressions explained

Image: Allie Reefer

It should come as no surprise that the entertainment world has spawned an exceptional number of idioms and expressions that we use in our daily lives. After all, artists are an endless source of creative ideas. Phrases from the radio, the circus, theater, cinema, and television have remained in the memory of English speakers expanding our vocabulary to no end. In this article, we’ll uncover the origin of 10 expressions that showbiz has gifted us for our sole entertainment. Join us!

Image: Fabian Centeno

This is probably the most popular idiom derived from the performing arts. To hope somebody breaks a leg may sound negative but in fact means you want them to have good luck, usually when it refers to stage actors or musicians. Some historians believe the expression originates from the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln who was shot at Ford’s Theater in 1865. His murderer, a renowned Shakespearean actor called John Wilkes Booth, is said to have broken his leg while trying to escape.

The claim that the saying arose as a form of black humor in relation to this event is probably wrong. In fact, the phrase was in use centuries before that. In theater, actors measured the success of a performance by the number of times an audience called them back for applause. Each time the curtain was reopened they bowed, and the more often that happened the greater the chance of "breaking a leg".

Image: Daan Noske / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Over the years Hollywood has given us a good sample of blonde bombshells: Marilyn Monroe, Mae West, Jayne Mansfield, Marlene Dietrich, just to name a few. But do you know where this expression originated? Nowadays, a blonde bombshell is an expression used to describe any attractive blonde lady, usually a singer or film star.

However, the original blonde bombshell was American actress Jean Harlow, known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters and star of the 1933 film Bombshell. When the film was released in the UK, producers changed its title to Blonde Bombshell as they worried it might be perceived as a war film. The expression immediately became popular on both sides of the pond.

Image: Brett Jordan

An old chestnut usually refers to a stale joke or story, something that has been repeated too many times. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origin of the saying dates back to an 1816 play called The Broken Sword. One of the characters often repeats the same joke about a cork tree, with slight variations each time. Another character, Pablo, interrupts and says, "It’s a chestnut. I have heard you tell the joke 27 times and it’s a chestnut."

But the story doesn’t end there. Years later, an American actor called William Warren, who had played the part of Pablo in the melodrama, was at a society event when another guest began to recite an old, worn-out joke. Warren, bored to tears, interrupted and said, "It’s an old chestnut, that’s what it is", much to the amusement of everybody there. News of the incident spread amongst their acquaintances and beyond and that is how the expression is still alive and kicking to this day.

Image: Marcelo Jaboo

Face the music is a popular idiom used to express that we have to accept responsibility and be confronted with the unpleasant consequences of our actions. It has two possible origins. The first one has to do with theater and refers to nervous actors on opening nights when they have to go out on stage and quite literally "face the music", as the orchestra pit sits directly in front of them.

The second explanation, on the other hand, is related to the military. It suggests that a dishonorable discharge results in the disgraced soldier being marched off barracks to the sound of drummers playing, in which case he too has to "face the music".

Image: Baher Khairy

As fit as a fiddle is used to indicate a person is in very good health. A fiddle is a stringed musical instrument, a forerunner of the violin. As you can imagine, this idiom has its origins in music, but also in theater.

The earliest reference to the expression has been traced to William Haughton's 1597 stage play Englishmen for My Money: "This is excellent, i’faith; as fit as a fiddle." Back in the days of medieval court, the word fiddle applied not only to the instrument but also to the fiddler and, by extension, to an entertainer. It is possible, therefore, that the phrase describes the fiddler, a vivacious character who made the company merry and played his instru­ment throughout the crowds, which makes a lot more sense.

Image: Tima Miroshnichenko

Jumping the shark is a phrase used in showbiz to describe a good television show that is experiencing a decline in quality and has reached a point at which flashy scenes are included just for show. This has been the case with many classic comedies, which ran for too many seasons and at some point started repeating themselves.

Happy Days was one of the greatest sitcoms of the 1970s. Americans across the country were captivated by the adventures of Richie Cunningham and his family until the writing became tired and viewers started to switch off. The final straw was a scene in which The Fonz —Henry Winkler— is waterskiing in his leather jacket and boots and literally jumps over a shark. For many critics that scene marked the end of the show and the beginning of a long-run expression we still use today.

Image: Dolo Iglesias

According to Cambridge Dictionary, to play it by ear means "to decide how to deal with a situation as it develops, rather than acting according to plans made earlier". As you probably have guessed, this is a musical expression and can be traced back to the days before recording equipment was available to everyone.

Before the 1870s, when Thomas Edison invented the first sound recording and reproduction devices, musicians had to play music without reference to a written score. The way they had to learn a given piece of music was literally, playing by ear. The concept of ear to refer to musical talent was already in use since the 16th century, but the broader meaning we give today to the idiom play it by ear didn’t appear until the mid-19th century.

Image: Martinus

Don't you hate it when someone steals your thunder? But, did you ever stop to think what thunders have to do with upstaging someone and taking the credit properly belonging to someone else? Believe it or not, this is a story that dates back to the early 1700s, the golden era of Elizabethan theater.

The expression was first coined by the playwright and critic John Dennis, who invented a method of simulating the sound of thunder for his unsuccessful play Appius and Virginia. Shortly after, he attended a performance of Macbeth and, to his dismay, he discovered his groundbreaking sound effect was being used without his permission. According to documents of the time, Dennis wrote a review stating: "See what rascals they are. They will not run my play and yet they steal my thunder."

Image: Ron Lach

The meaning we give today to the expression back to square one is "to be back where one started with a project or plan". However, its literal meaning goes back to the glory days when television had not yet been invented and radio was the greatest form of entertainment.

In the 1930s, soccer and rugby fans could follow matches broadcasted by the BBC with the help of a printed plan of the pitch divided into squares. Commentators would murmur "Square five" or "Square three" as the ball moved about the field. Playing the ball back to square one meant losing maximum territorial advantage and, therefore, meant "back to the beginning".

Image: Tima Miroshnichenko

Whenever something bad happens we use this phrase to give us courage, to remind us that we must carry on no matter what. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the show must go on is "used to say that a performance, event, etc., must continue even though there are problems". Its origin is not entirely clear but its connection to the entertainment world is evident.

One theory indicates that the phrase was first coined in the 19th-century circuses, where incidents involving lost animals and performers suffering from injuries were commonplace. In these circles, the audience was more important than anything else, so regardless of what happened, the show would not be canceled. With time, the expression became widespread and is now used for any kind of situation, from theater and the hotel business to a birthday party.