The 18 Most Iconic American Brand Logos

Marks so worn-in that people tattoo them, wear them, or spot them from a mile of highway. A few needed only a shape, no name at all.

1

McDonald's Golden Arches

Two yellow arches recognised in more countries than most national flags.

2

Coca-Cola Script

Spencerian handwriting from 1887, barely altered since.

3

Nike Swoosh

A checkmark bought for $35 in 1971 that now needs no wordmark.

4

Apple

A bitten apple that dropped its rainbow stripes and kept the silhouette.

5

Starbucks Siren

A twin-tailed mermaid who lost her wordmark and stayed recognisable.

6

FedEx

The wordmark with an arrow hidden between the E and the x.

7

Ford Script

The blue oval and looping signature, largely unchanged for a century.

8

Levi's Red Tab

A small red flag stitched onto a back pocket as a trademark.

9

Harley-Davidson Bar and Shield

A logo people tattoo on themselves, which is the highest score a mark can get.

10

NBC Peacock

Six coloured feathers introduced to sell colour television.

11

Playboy Bunny

A bow-tied rabbit head that outlived the magazine it was drawn for.

12

UPS Shield

A brown shield that made a delivery colour into a brand.

13

IBM Stripes

Paul Rand's eight-bar wordmark, the template for corporate modernism.

14

KFC Colonel Sanders

A founder's face turned into a logo and simplified for decades.

15

Amazon Smile

An arrow from A to Z that doubles as a grin.

16

Walmart Spark

A yellow spark that replaced the hyphen and the all-caps shouting.

17

Chevrolet Bowtie

A gold cross-shaped emblem on American trucks since 1913.

18

Michelin Man

Bibendum, a figure made of stacked tyres, drawn in 1898 and still working.