Truly successful brand symbols all lie at the birth of a social movement.  I don’t mean just your run-of-the-mill corporate brand logos.  I mean real, larger-than-life, old school, American brands like Uncle Sam, Jeep, Deadhead, Daisy Dukes, Yellow Ribbons, and Mano Cornuto.

(Mano who?)

You know…devil horns.  Heavy metal horns.  Whatever you want to call it.  It’s become a universal symbol of rock & roll rebellion.

Interestingly enough, it’s meaning is rooted in southern European superstition.  To place the sign of the horns over someone’s head is to make a mockery of them.  This has been adapted as “bunny ears” in America- usually when someone is taking a picture.  Or, to point the sign explicitly at someone is to imply that they’ve been the victim of betrayal or infidelity.  The “horns” have their origin in the figure of the Minotaur of Greek mythology.  Look it up…read the story…it’s interesting.

Over the years, the sign came to represent the warding off of bad luck or evil.  So, if you passed someone on the street you didn’t like or that was rumored to be a witch or possibly possessed, you would point the horns at them in defiance…as a sort of curse.

What does this have to do with American brand symbols?  Two words: Black Sabbath.  Ronnie James Dio had an Italian aunt.  One day, he saw her make the sign at a man on the street.  It seemed to him the coolest and oddest thing.  So he started doing it on stage.  The rest is history.

Disillusioned teens have been doing it ever since.  The devil horns became a symbol of heavy metal and youthful rebellion…long outliving Black Sabbath.  Just as Uncle Sam became a symbol of patriotism.  Just as Jeep became a symbol of die-hard toughness.  Just as Deadhead became a symbol of a free spirited way of life.  It’s the same with Yellow Ribbons and Daisy Dukes.  These symbols, when used, say something about the person using them.  The symbol is so powerful that it brands a person, a group of people, or even an entire generation of people.

What do all of these symbols have in common?  They all lie at the origin of a social movement.  People were rallying around a feeling or emotion or idea.  These symbols gave the idea a voice…a way to express the inexpressible.

The real kicker?  These symbols didn’t try to create a movement.  They simply became a symbol of a movement that was already there.  They occurred in the right place at the right time.  And the masses could relate.

That’s branding at its best:  Being relevant, being timely, being yourself.  Rock on.