The original source of inspiration for the Starbucks Logo (12th Century)

While reading the History of Beauty by Umberto Eco I came across to what it seems to be the source of inspiration of the Starbucks logo. There are many representations of two tailed mermaids, but they mostly date to 15th and16th Centuries, while the engraving I found in this book dates to 12th Century.

I was really excited to see it because, if you remember well, there’s been a funny debate about the true meaning of the Starbucks logo.

In the picture below you can see the original Starbucks logo (1971) and in the second picture there is the logo used since 1992. It was slightly change in 2011, but I think most people have this logo in mind.

In the first picture, you can clearly see that the girl is a Melusine, that is a mermaid with two tails, originating from the European folklore. It seems that the original Starbucks picture is not so original and is actually a 15th Century representation, but I couldn’t locate it’s origin or whether it is available to the public or not.

The 1992 logo is a modern stylisation of the first one. There’s been funny debates about it and its meaning, culminating with these kind of hilarious pictures:

There is even a funny clip about the logo’s creation:

The engraving I found was created in 12th Century and is located in Pieve di San Pietro a Gropina. You can go and actually visit it. I don’t know where the logo is located, but it would be fun to search it. If you find it, let me know!

Find out some more interesting stuff: