Logos Week 1: Heraldic Crest

1. Twinings Tea

The reasons I chose Twinings is not because their logo has anything to do with a crest in itself, but because it is so connected to the heraldic crest of Queen Elizabeth II. Many other products use this crest, but none quite like Twinings, which places the heraldic crest right above their own logo on all of their products (but not on the logo heading their website). Their logo, being only typography with no graphic, lens itself to almost be a part of the crest, as if they are part of the same entity, which of course they’re not.

When I think about this, I have realised that I have always associated Twinings with being a ‘grand’ tea – of the upper classes, or being a right royal affair. Would I have felt the same were it not for the Royal seal, so predominately placed?

Click here for more info on the crests.

And click here for Twinings' logo, as seen on its products.

2. Arsenal – when crests become a pain in the…commercial

This is a very interesting case. First, the Arsenal crest has been changed with the sole intention of giving it more of a logo-type of imaging, obviously for marketing purposes. Click here to see what one Arsenal fan had to say about it.


A book of condolences??!! Now THAT’S emotional attachment to a symbol! (Sorry soccer fans…). So I guess I would rather highlight their emotional feelings than my own, because I don't really care about either (although from an aesthetic point of view, I'm going to cause fury and side with he management. Still - what are you marketing and why? If your public hates you for changing and won't wear the shirt, then what's the point?). I will say, though, that's it's kept it's rather agressive looking canon, but hey - they ARE called Arsenal and they are a soccer team, so that makes sense. The new logo was introduced in 2002.

Arsenal, the club management, that is, not the fans, had this to say about the last few years of the crest’s life, and their reasons for changing:

“For the past 53 years this crest has remained largely unchanged (6), though at the start of the 2001/02 season it was 'cleaned up' somewhat (7) for commercial reasons, with a solid yellow replacing the different tones of gold and Victoria Concordia Crescit written in a less ornate typeface.

The Club's identity has thus evolved over the years and the decision to formulate a new crest (8) in 2002 was two-fold. Firstly, as the VCC crest incorporated many separate elements introduced over a number of years, there was uncertainty surrounding its exact origination. Consequently, the Club was unable to copyright the VCC crest. Secondly, it had always been one of the Club's primary objectives to embrace the future and move forward. With a new stadium on the horizon and the Gunners consistently challenging for domestic and European honours, the Club believed that this was the ideal time to introduce a new crest.”

It's perhaps a nasty irony that heraldic crests - and the history of the team - is getting in the way of good marketing. Having a logo that is easier to print does carry more weight these days...

3. Hiyoko Manjyu

This very distinctive cake is sold as ‘omiyage’ – a souvenier – in Tokyo. The cake itself has become its logo! It’s hard to see in the link, but the chick also covers nearly the whole of the front of the box as well. I bought these once for a friend because I thought they were so beautiful, so now this reminds me of walking through the back streets of Asakusa – one of my favourite places in Tokyo!

Click here to see the original crest.


Click here for more information on Japanese heraldic crests. Some of them are very beautiful!