Northwest Airlines

DailyFinance: Hidden Meanings in 12 Popular Logos

Back in 2003, lamenting the loss of the old Northwest Airlines logo, pilot Patrick Smith published his critique of the new logo in his "Ask the Pilot" column at Salon.com, saying the airline's previous circular corporate logo was, "quite simply, a work of genius. It was an N; it was a W; it was a compass pointing toward the northwest."

(Photo: Northwest Airlines)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

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Hidden Meanings ... Sometimes a company or brand logo is more than it first appears. Hidden meanings are everywhere, from hidden meanings of professional symbols to hidden meanings of brands. WalletPop found the hidden meanings or messages embedded in these 12 popular logos below. You won't look at these designs the same way again.

(Photo: Baskin Robbins)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
FedEx Can you spot something in this logo? The FedEx logo, designed in 1994 by Linden Leader & Landor Associates, at first appears simple and straightforward. However, if you look at the white space between the "E" and "x" you can see a right-facing arrow. This "hidden" arrow was intended to be a subliminal symbol for speed and precision.

(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Amazon.com That yellow arrow is more than just a decorative swoosh. The Amazon logo was created to represent the message that it sells everything from A to Z (the arrow connects the two letters) and also represents the smile that customers would experience by shopping on the Amazon.com web site.

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Baskin-Robbins In 2005, as part of its 60th anniversary celebration, Baskin-Robbins launched a new brand identity. The new logo was intended to "capture the fun and energy of Baskin-Robbins." In the old logo, the number "31" appeared within a simple arc, suggestive of a scoop of ice cream, and next to the name. In the new logo, you can see that the "31" still exists. It is now formed by the pink portion of the ice cream store's two initials: "B" and "R."

(Photo: Baskin Robbins)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Big Ten Conferen... Founded in 1896, the Big Ten Conference is a union of world-class academic institutions who share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. From approximately 1949 until 1990, the Big Ten consisted of 10 member schools. Then, on June 4, 1990, it added Pennsylvania State University into the Conference. The "Big Ten" name stayed the same, but a logo was crafted to reference this addition by planting a number "11" in the negative space. (Look closely at the blue space surrounding the letters "G" and "T" in the logo.) However, the conference revealed an even newer logo that began being used in the 2011-12 academic year. The lettering includes an embedded numeral "10" in the word "BIG" and is built on the conference's iconic name, but this time without any reference to the number of member institutions.

(Photo: Big Ten/AOL)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Toblerone In 1908, in Berne, Switzerland, Theodore Tobler and Emil Baumann (Tobler's cousin), developed a unique chocolate, consisting of a special recipe and a triangular shape. But it wasn't until 1970 that the Matterhorn mountain image appeared on the packaging for the first time. Today there is a bear (symbol of the city of Berne, where Toblerone is produced) hidden in the modern version of the Matterhorn mountain logo.

(Photo: Toblerone)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Northwest Airlin... Back in 2003, lamenting the loss of the old Northwest Airlines logo, pilot Patrick Smith published his critique of the new logo in his "Ask the Pilot" column at Salon.com, saying the airline's previous circular corporate logo was, "quite simply, a work of genius. It was an N; it was a W; it was a compass pointing toward the northwest."

(Photo: Northwest Airlines)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Sun Microsystems Sun's logo -- which features four interleaved copies of the word "sun" -- was designed by professor Vaughan Pratt of Stanford University. It is an ambigram, which is defined as a typographical design or artform that may be read as one or more words not only in its form as presented, but also from another viewpoint, direction or orientation. The initial version of the logo had the sides oriented horizontally and vertically, but it was subsequently redesigned so as to appear to stand on one corner.

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Families and Mar... The "i's" in Families and the mirrored "R's" in Marriage visually symbolize both relationships simply and effectively.

(Photo: Families and Marriage)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Goodwill Do you see the right half of a smiley face? Or do you see a lower case "g"? In either case, you'd be correct.

(Photo: Goodwill)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Unilever According to Unilever, its new identity is an expression of vitality. Each icon within the logo represents an aspect of its business. For example, the shirt (below the heart) symbolizes "clothes" and represent fresh laundry and looking good.

(Photo: Unilever)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
IBM According to the IBM Archives, in 1972 the IBM international recognition logo was adopted and remains the official logo still in use. The IBM logo is easily recognized by the distinctive eight stripes that make up the letters IBM. The horizontal stripes are intended to suggest "speed and dynamism."

(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
More from DailyF... Click here for the inside scoop on Starbucks' logo change.