Over its more than 45-year history, the Starbucks logo has been given quite a few makeovers. In the course of time the company’s main symbol, the siren, started to look more modest. Have you ever thought of hidden symbolism behind the coffee shop giant’s logotype? Do you know why it has been accused of using satanic emblems?

One of the most successful coffee chains was founded by three people who were far from the world of business. Two of them, Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegel, were teachers, while the third co-founder, Gordon Bowker, was a writer. Originally, the shop did not sell brewed coffee, but bags of roasted coffee beans.

The word Starbucks came from the Moby Dick book written by Herman Melville. Starbuck was the name of a young chief mate. Having chosen the name in 1971, the founders started to look through old marine books for inspiration for the logo.

The company’s official blog states that the inspiration was found by Terry Heckler in a 16-century Norse woodcut. Yet, there exist Ancient Greek bas-reliefs depicting sirens looking very much like the old Starbucks logo.

The bare-breasted siren chosen for the emblem was wearing a crown. She had two tails and was holding one tail with each hand.

The mermaid was placed into a circle shape and encircled by the following text: “Starbucks Coffee Tea Spices.” So, it is obvious, that originally Starbucks was not just about coffee, but had a wider assortment. This emblem was far from what a successful, modern logo should look, yet it did its job.

Starbucks original logo

Most people wonder, why a coffeehouse chain would opt for something that has to do with the sea. In its official blog, Starbucks explained that, basically, there were two reasons for the choice. The first thing, the company’s city of origin is Seattle, which is a seaport. Moreover, the headquarters are located on Puget Sound, where the harmony of the ocean is overwhelming.

In addition to this, coffee is imported to the US from overseas countries, so it has to travel across the water before you can drink it. Who knows how many mermaids the ships loaded with coffee beans pass by?

There is also one more possible explanation to the choice, although the company does not actually mention this fact in its blog. It is quite obvious that a mermaid has always been an embodiment of temptation and desire.

After all, mermaids were “seen” by fishermen who had not touched a real woman for quite a long time. The alluring Rubinesque siren on a Starbucks cup seduces a passerby and makes him forget about where he was going exactly as an imaginary siren would seduce a seaman making his ship crash into rocks.

As some critics of the Starbucks strategy point out, in much the same way many people succumb to the lure of overpriced coffee and spend their lives with laptops at one of Starbucks tables (or at least develop caffeine dependence).

Why was the old Starbucks logo modified?

If you take a closer look at the earlier versions of the emblem, you will certainly notice that the picture of the mermaid used to be by far more straightforward than it is now. The siren with exposed breasts looked fine on smaller spaces, yet when the company decided to zoom up the logo, it became obvious that the picture was on the verge of indecency and something had to be done with it.

The decision was quite simple: designers just covered the bare breasts with her hair (this was a part of the 1987 redesign).

The 1987 logo Starbucks

The siren has been tweaked a few times. The first modification happened in 1987. By this time, the company had six locations in its home city.

Shortly before the redesign, the founders sold the business to Howard Schultz, one of ex- managers. Earlier, Schultz tried to convince his employers to add espresso drinks to the menu, but they refused to do it, so he created his own company, Il Giornale and later took the opportunity to buy Starbucks. The Il Giornale’s logo influenced the following Starbucks logo redesigns.

The new owner had a lot of plans. He included espresso drinks to the menu and decided to make the Starbucks logo more appropriate for a big, successful chain. One of the most noticeable changes was the shift in the color scheme: brown was replaced by green and black. The mermaid became cleaner. The shape of the crown and the ends of both the tails were modified, too. Although the siren preserved much of her Rubinesque appeal, yet she adopted a more “modest” appearance because the breasts were covered with the hair.

The black-and-white siren was placed into a circle shape with black filler. Around it, there was the “Starbucks Coffee” inscription. The new logo emphasized the shift in the company’s focus: it started to position itself as a coffeehouse chain. The white text was given against the green background. That was the first time when green, which would later become the main corporate color, appeared in the logotype.

The 1992 redesign Starbucks Logo

In 1992 a major event happened in the history of the coffee shop giant: it became a publicly traded company. By the time the initial public offering took place, the company had 140 outlets and boasted the revenue of more than $72 million.

The siren was enlarged, so the logo focused on the upper part of her body. The color scheme remained the same (black, green, and white).

The 2011 update Starbucks Logo

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the coffeehouse chain, the logo was updated once again. The job was done by in-house designers and Lippincott. The text encircling the picture was removed, together with the outer strip, while the siren was enlarged. The only two colors left were green and white. Also, the designers made a bit of face work, but it is hardly noticeable to an unprofessional eye.

One more innovation was the way the logo was applied to the bags and merchandise. The mermaid was sometimes positioned off-center so as to mix up the packaging and make it look less standard.

Conspiracy theories around the emblem Starbucks

Like many other famous logotypes, the Starbucks logo has been alleged for satanic symbolism more than once.

For instance, if you invert the mermaid, you may notice its resemblance with the devil (the two tails resemble the horns). Also, it has been mentioned that the hair has 333 or 666 shape, while the tails have Masonic stripes. Some conspiracy theorists claim the emblem belongs to the Illuminati. The aim of such a logo, in their view, is to brainwash Starbucks clients by secret satanic symbolism.

Font of the Starbucks Logo

The current version of the emblem does not include any text. However, for most of the logo’s history, the “Starbucks Coffee” inscription was a part of the design, and it was only in 2011 that it was removed. The wordmark featured a solid sans-serif all-cap typeface.

Color of the Starbucks Logo

The symbolism behind the green color does not seem obvious, in case of the Starbucks logo. Some of the most well-known associations include wealth, money, and nature. In what way can these be connected with coffee?

It turns out, that there is a certain connection. As Steve Murray, the chain’s creative director, puts it, this choice is partly explained by “the way we treat our customers… and partners. It’s about being good citizens of the planet, being good to the world”. He emphasizes, that it is also about the way the company sources the coffee and helps farmers.

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