Land O’Lakes Logo PNG
Buying farm products is a direct hit on the target. The Land O’Lakes logo testifies to the love for the business and the excellent taste and quality of dairy products. According to the symbols on the emblem, the product is made from natural ingredients and produced under careful control at every stage of production.
Meaning and History
Most consumers associate Land O’Lakes only with butter, the packaging of which used to depict a girl from an Indian tribe. After the logo was updated in 2020, the design was simplified, and the Native Americans disappeared without a trace. Now the brand name is at the heart of the identity. It appeared when the cooperative’s creators held a naming contest among Minnesota residents. Two people sent the winning option at the same time: George L. Swift and E. B. Foss. They suggested calling the brand Land O’Lakes because Americans know Minnesota as “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”
After that, the company needed a new logo to visually reflect the changes. It was designed by the artist Arthur C. Hanson. He portrayed a young girl in traditional Indian attire. According to legend, her name was Mia, although many associate this image with a character from Native American folklore – the fictional woman Minnehaha. It was she who was mentioned in the stories about the leader of the Hiawatha.
By the way, the name Minnehaha is translated as “laughing waters,” and the word Minnesota means “cloudy waters.” This is another explanation for why the brand is called Land O’Lakes. His logo also used to feature a “water” theme: a girl sitting by a lake. Moreover, in the 1950s, the artist Patrick DesJarlait tweaked the landscape, adding details to bring out the scenic Narrows Gorge, which was well known to the Red Lake tribe. The same designer changed the girl’s clothes to match Ojibwe traditions. He decorated the hem, belt, and headband with floral designs. Patrick DesJarlait knew exactly what they were supposed to look like because he was Ojibwe.
On the one hand, such artistic motifs were considered an expression of reverence for Native American culture. After all, while they were trying to forget about them, settling on reservations, the oil producer was constantly reminded of the existence of the Indians with his logo. In addition, DesJarlait himself considered himself apolitical and wanted peace among all the inhabitants of America. He was confident that his work fostered historical pride. But the Land O’Lakes logo has been involved in several scandals. It was called a caricature that does not show the real facts of the genocide. Allegations of racist stereotypes forced the dairy manufacturer to redesign globally and remove the image of the Native American girl from its butter and other products.
What is Land O’Lakes?
Land O’Lakes is a cooperative consisting of more than 1,600 American farmers. It focuses on the production of agricultural products, mainly milk, cheese, and butter. Its products also include animal feed and materials for processing planting material. Land O’Lakes’ history began in 1921 with the establishment of the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association.
1903 – 1925
The history of Land O’Lakes dates back to 1921, when American farmers formed an association. The manufacturer produced dairy products, including pasteurized processed cheese. Its label bore the red brand name in serif typeface, obviously the logo. Below, the product type was mentioned, and the inscription “Land O’Lakes Creameries, Inc.” (the organization adopted this name in 1926) appeared.
1925 – 1949
Arthur C. Hanson, an illustrator at Brown & Bigelow, designed the first Native American girl emblem. This happened in 1928, when the cooperative decided to align its identity with its name. The artist depicted a landscape typical of any corner of Minnesota: a green coastline, a picturesque body of water, and tall pine trees on the horizon. The main selling point was a Native American woman who bent down to the water, holding a butter box in front of her.
1949 – 1959
In the late 1940s, the logo was modified. The company entrusted the redesign to Red Lake Ojibwe Indian artist Patrick DesJarlait. This is how the image of a girl turned to face the viewer appeared on the label. She was on her knees, clutching the butter to her chest. The feather on her head was in the center of the letter “O” in the red lettering “LAND O’LAKES.”
1959 – 1969
Over time, the colors became brighter. The letters were outlined in yellow, and the apostrophe disappeared for some reason. The artist has detailed the embroidery on the buckskin dress, adding ornaments that the Ojibwe have for plants.
1969 – 1983
In 1969, Arthur C. Hanson refined the logo, complementing the green shore with bright yellow colors and depicting two converging tree lines on the horizon. He wanted the landscape to resemble a special area on the reservation, Narrows. Any Indian could recognize this area as belonging to the Red Lake Tribe. The apostrophe reappeared in the LAND O’LAKES caption.
1983 – 1993
The yellow dress on the label turned red and orange. In addition, the designers underlined the brand name with a long, thin line to separate it from the product name.
1993 – 2009
In the early 1990s. Land O’Lakes has unveiled a corporate emblem with the iconic Native American image. The upper inscription turned into a red arch, while the font was changed to a stylized sans-serif. The word “FOODSERVICE” has been added at the bottom. The lake landscape has disappeared.
2009 – 2018
The designers repainted the brand name in gold and placed it on a curved red ribbon. A pond with trees reappeared in the background.
2018 – 2020
The dairy manufacturer has been accused of kneeling as if in acknowledgment of submission. Therefore, the artists removed the torso, leaving only the head. The “portrait” was placed in the red letter “O,” and the apostrophe disappeared. The word combination “LAND O LAKES” became even, and in the upper right corner, there was another inscription: “Farmer-Owned.” An Italic font was used for it.
2020 – today
In 2020, only the cooperative’s name appeared on the logo, with no hint of an Indian theme. The company said it would decorate food packages with real photographs of farmers providing fresh milk. The Farmer-Owned tag also disappeared. The changes were timed to coincide with Land O’Lakes’ 100th anniversary.
Font and Colors
The old symbol depicting a girl named Mia has been repeatedly called racist and misogynistic because the image, in society’s opinion, was overly sexualized and did not reflect the real problems of the Indians. Therefore, the disappearance of the Native American woman caused a great stir. The cooperative’s owners hoped that the young girl from the Indian tribe would be associated with cleanliness and nature.
The company name is written in a bold, stylized red font. The letters don’t have serifs, but they have curving decorative lines. The “O” is a perfectly flat circle and serves as a separate design element, dividing the lettering into two parts.