Logos: they have deep roots in history

“A picture is worth a thousand words,” they say.

The desire to create a brand, a pictorial icon to represent you or your team, your mission or your endeavor, has deep roots in history.

For centuries, crests, monograms and the use of symbols have been utilized to reflect individual people, families and their organizations, beliefs and history. From a historical perspective, let’s look at the Medici Family, rooted in Italy: their intricate coat of arms, and — the distinctive balls — the characteristic that sets their seal apart from all of the other seals of the time.

What do those balls represent? Why was the crest designed the way it was?

According to one theory, (and there are many), the armorial bearings of the Medici supposedly represent pills, because medici in Italian means “physicians.” Another more plausible explanation is that the Medici adopted the round balls because those symbols were associated in the public mind with money lending and credit. The Medici family was very influential in their time. During my stay in Italy, I saw their coat of arms displayed all over Florence and other Tuscan cities.

A logo is meant to be consistent and lasting (especially if it is cast in stone!) But the mission or legacy behind a logo or “coat of arms” goes much deeper. It will represent everything you do, who you are, why you do what you do, how you act and what you produce.

This wall, located in Cortona, Italy, is embedded with many crests.