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What makes a logo great? Is it the colors? Maybe the shapes used? Or maybe it's something that works on a whole different level, hidden from plain sight? We're talking here about the logos you've seen so many times, you probably stopped paying attention to what they actually mean.

Check out these 15 famous brand logos which, despite being well known, still manage to hold a secret or two within.

Which one surprises you the most? Let us know in the comments!

(h/t: demilked)

#1

Toyota

Toyota

This one is extra cool because the logo actually includes every letter used in the company’s name.

Toyota Report

#2

Toblerone

Toblerone

"Toblerone" chocolates come from Switzerland and they really make it show not only by having Bern (city where Toblerone is made) in the name, but also a bear's silhouette placed inside the mountain logo.

Toblerone Report

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Muriel Zora
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When Mr. Tobler invented it, he knew that the swiss market would be too small and he designed the brand name for export: tobler One, the number one chocolate. (that's what they told us at the history museum in Bern during a special exhibition on bernese inventions.)

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#3

Fedex

Fedex

"FedEx" hid a small arrow between letters E and x, which represents the forward momentum and efficiency.

FedEx Report

#5

Beats

Beats

Letter B in the red circle shows a person wearing Beats headphones.

beatsbydre Report

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Yvonne Bernal
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think they should have left at least the little eye on the logo... it is cute though.

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#6

Amazon

Amazon

The obvious bit is the arrow connecting a to z, but what’s usually missed is that the logo is smiling.

Amazon Report

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Terri-Lynn Macartney
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I actually always thought it was just a smile! Never saw the arrow, so never made the "a to z" connection.

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#7

Baskin Robbins

Baskin Robbins

Ice cream maker is famous for producing 31 different flavors of their product. They even put that number in their logo.

Baskin Robbins Report

#8

Quiksilver

Quiksilver

It’s actually a stylized version of famous woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

Quiksilver Report

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Dan Burge
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Are you guys serious!? Its a mountain and a wave. Clear as day. Snowboard and surf gear. Not "hidden" at all.

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#9

Pinterest

Pinterest

The letter P is actually a pin.

Pinterest Report

#10

Hyundai

Hyundai

Car manufacturer’s logo stands for the first letter of their name, right? Not only so, it also represents a successful deal between a car dealer and a customer.

Huyndai Report

#12

London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra

The letters make the shape of a conductor of the orchestra.

lso.co.uk Report

#13

Unilever

Unilever

Unilever’s logo is actually made up of icons representing different aspects of sustainable living.

unilever Report

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#14

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo

Italian car manufacturer's logo is jam-packed with stuff, the key feature being a serpent eating a man.

alfaromeo Report

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Yvonne Bernal
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What the author DIDN'T explain is this: The red cross is typical Christian symbol of medieval heraldry and used extensively throughout the crusaides. Back then, it didn’t mean “medic”, it meant: Run for your life. The man in the serpents mouth is a bit more controversial. It’s a symbol called a biscione, and the man in the image is alternatively described as a child (the modern interpretation) or a Saracen or Moor (aka: a Muslim). So the whole serpent motif is all about the Christians Crusaders’ defeat of the infidels. Hey - I didn't make it, I'm only trying to explain it. lol

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Kelly
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The red cross represents the city of Milan, the serpent is called 'biscione' and is the symbol of the Visconti family, lords of the city.

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Arkadin
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

On the right, is the flag of the city of Milan. On the left, it is the representation of the beginning of the Visconti family, the legend that the first one was saved from a big snake when he was a baby. Do not improvise, when you do not know something, better keep your mouth shut.

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Godspeed
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It can also mean that this Italian car will break down just like English cars do and the cost to repair it feels like you are being eaten alive. That's my two cents :P

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Brontosonto
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The red cross is from the flag of Milan, city where Alfa Romeo was founded.

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Mónica Elisabeth Sacco
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The logo used by Alfa-Romeo, originally a Milanese car manufacturer, is the actual coat of arms of Milano city, inherited from the Visconti duches, being the last one Filippo Maria Visconti. His duchy was inherited by his illegitimate daughter Bianca Maria Visconti, who married condottiere Francesco Sforza (her father's choice, after having rejected other more noble unions like the dukes of Ferrara, for the sake of a better protector of the Milano duchy). The Sforzas kept the Viscontis coat of arms , known as the "biscione" (the great snake, "bissa" in Milanese dialect) that eats sometimes a boy or baby, other times, a man. It represents the prophet Jonah as being swallowed or thrown upo by a sea serpent or Leviatan.

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Cem Ergin
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am an Alfa owner (we say Alfisti). snake is gas stations, man is who paying for the gas :D

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Erik Scarpolini
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The biscione is the Official symbol of Visconti family, who ruled Milan, where the car was actually manufactured....

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Arty
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it's an heraldic symbol from somewhere (if I have to guess, the home town of Alpha Romeo...don't know where that is)

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#15

Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines

Clever use of typography merges both letters, N and W, into one.

Northwest Airlines Report

#16

Galeries Lafayette

Galeries Lafayette

Double T in the title creates The Eiffel Tower.

Galeries Lafayette Report