The Linux and Unix Menagerie: Google Logos Galore

Hey there,

This, being the day before this post says it got published, is officially the first day of Spring!

What does that mean, exactly? Not a whole lot. From what I can tell, in Chicago, on March 19th, 2009 the weather outside is around 50 degrees and balmy. Beginning March 20th, the weather outside becomes around 50 degrees and chilly ;)

Since Google continues to increase its cache of bizarre logos and tributes to various times of year, famous peoples' birthdays and anniversaries of events that may or may not be important to any of us, I thought this collection of Google logos on marketingjive.com

I've included a selection below, but check out the site. It's got pretty much every one they've ever put out - up to a certain point in time (which I can't tell yet because I don't think they're officially done doing this).

Enjoy :)

Top 30 Google Logos 1998 - 2008

#30. Google Beta - yup the one that started it all.

#29. 125th Birthday of Walter Gropius - one of the pioneering masters of modern day architecture.

#28. Google's First Holiday Season - this one is from 1999 according to the Google archive.

#27. Google Celebrates its Fifth Birthday 2003 - Five Years ago, Google was half its age and was still and infant in Search that would quickly go through adolescence and become the mature, innovative "adult of Search" that it is today.

#26. Nasa's 50th Birthday - Google celebrates Nasa's 50th birthday in style.

#25. 50th Anniversary of Understanding DNA - Google is known to display logos coinciding with historic events or birthdays. On April 25th, 2003, Google displayed this logo in celebrating the 50th anniversary of mankind understanding Deoxyribonucleic acid better known as DNA.

#24. St. Patrick's Day 2008 - Google has been known to have some great logos for the many holidays celebrated around the world. This one is from earlier this year as Google celebrated St. Patrick's Day on March 17th.

#23. Alexander Graham Bell Birthday Logo - another one from earlier this year was, when on March 3rd, Google celebrated famed Canadian (although born in Scotland)

Alexander Graham Bell, the man who invented the telephone.

#22. Dragon Boat Festival - annother favorite of ours is the Google logo for the Dragon Boat festival from June 15 2002.

#21. St. Patrick's Day 2007 - we must have something for St. Patrick's Day because this is the second logo on our list for the St. Patrick's Day holiday. Maybe it has something to do with the green font on the white background.

#20. Fouth of July 2008 - Rounding out the bottom third of our list is Google's logo for Independance Day for our friends in the US. Great logo.

#19. Google Celebrates Einstein's Birthday - on March 14th, 2003, Google paid tribute to one of the greatest men in history as they celebrated Albert Einstein's birthday.

#18. 5oth Anniversay of Lego - on January 28th of this year Google celebrated the 50th anniversry of one of the coolest inventions ever... Lego.

#17. Anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest - On May 29, 2008 Google displayed this very cool logo representing the anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest. Very cool.

#16. Halloween 2001 - Google's had some pretty fun Halloween logos, but this one is plain and simple which is why we like it the most of the sppoky Halloween logos that Google has displayed over the years.

#15. Leap Year 2004 - as we reach the mid-way point of our list, we have a logo featuring what else? Yes a couple of frogs celebrating February 29, 2004.

#14. Opening of 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics - last month, Google displayed this fantastic logo signifying the start of the 26th Summer Olympiad, touted as the most expensive in the history of the Olympics.

#13. Veteran's Day 2007 - honoring those who have worked so hard to give us the freedom that we enjoy today. Thank you to all of the men and women in both the US and Canada who have served to protect our great land.

#12. Ray Charles Birthday - on September 23, 2004 Google displayed this logo in honor of the late Ray Charles.

#11. Father's Day 2006 - Google has had many great Mother's Day and Father's Day logos. We selected this one as our favorite.

#10. Independance Day 2007 - Entering the top 10 we have this powerful logo celebrating July 4th in the US.

#9. Mozart's 250th Birthday - on January 2006, Google paid tribute to the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart celebrating his 250th birthday. you know that you are great when people are still celebrating your 250th birthday.

#8. da Vinci's Birthday 2005 - on April 15th, 2005, Google paid tribute to Leonardo Da Vinci with this creative logo.

#7. Google Loves Canada - love this logo clebrating Canada Day on July 1, 2001. Canada loves Google too eh!

#6. Google Earth Day 2008 - on April 22, 2008, Google was spreading the news about the green initiative with this inspiring Earth Day logo.

#5. Picasso's Birthday - on October 25th, Google celebrated Pablo Picasso's birthday with this intersting logo.

#4. Michelangelo's Birthday - Keeping with the artists theme, Google displayed this logo on March 6th, 2003 in honor of Michelangelo's birthday.

#3. National Teachers Day 2005 - where would we be without out teachers? On May 3, 2005, Google paid tribute to all of the teachers out there with this classsic logo.

#2. Martin Luther King times two - This man is important that we actually had a tie with two of Google's logos for Martin Luther King Day. From 2006 and 2008, Google paid tribute to the man who was an inspiration to many.

#1. Edvard Munch Birthday 2006 - this is simply our favorite Google logo. There is something about it that just seems to be mesmerizing. This logo was featured on December 12, 2006. Featuring "The Scream", this composition was created by Edvard Munch and is said by some to symbolize the human species overwhelmed by an attack of existential angst.

Well there you have it our favorite Google logos from the past ten years. We look forward to seeing many more of these Google logos. In fact we have some ideas for some additional Google logos:

Logos paying tribute to the Beatles
Logo paying tribute to the original members of the band Kiss (the four original members released solo albums on the same day in September 1978... thirty years ago this month.)
a logo paying tribute to the 100th Anniversary of the Montreal Canadians who will be celebrating this milestone this year