The deer is considered a good symbol. Its image is often associated with spirituality, creation, rebirth, renewal, purity, light, sunrise, and sunshine. The huge branching antlers symbolize fertility, as they are associated with the Tree of Life. However, it is not as common to see a deer in the logos of popular brands as other animals that dominate pop culture.
The horned giant looks luxurious, elegant, and noble. At the same time, he is incredibly strong, fast, bold, and even aggressive, so it is a universal image. Artists can convey both its graceful beauty and hidden energy, meaning a wide variety of companies can use the deer in their visual identity. To make the animal truly unique, it can be interestingly stylized, playing up the shape of its antlers or body.
In heraldry, the deer stands for moderation and grace. In Christianity, it is a symbol of religious zeal, the Celts – a mediator between the world of men and the gods, the ancient Maya – a sacred creature. Formidable, friendly, calm, running, strong, and graceful animals are often used on the logos of global brands. In today’s article, we will look at what they can look like and what meaning designers put into this image, which opens up a limitless scope for creativity.
Jagermeister
For the Jägermeister brand, the logo in the form of a deer is a mandatory attribute of the brand’s green bottles. It has always adorned rectangular labels and, for a hundred years, has not changed much except for minor adjustments. The fact that the name of the alcoholic brand is translated from German to “Master of Hunting” or “Master Hunter.” The emblem depicts the head of a deer on the background of a circle diverging in all directions rays. Between the horns is an Orthodox cross, with which there is an interesting story. According to legend, St. Hubert was a count and an avid hunter. One Christmas night, he went into the forest and saw a deer with a glowing cross above its head. It was this event that prompted him to go into a monastery and become a monk for the rest of his life. Thus, the Jagermeister brand has a conceptual framework that is reflected in the entire identity – from the name to the logo.
Watford
Watford also has a deer head on its logo but without the religious connotation. Since it is a professional soccer club, in its case, this animal symbolizes power, strength, speed, self-confidence, and the desire to win. Therefore, the artists chose a rather aggressive color scheme, combining bright shades of red, yellow, and black. It is noteworthy that the deer has an atypical coloring – it is completely red with thin black contours. The style of the drawing is far from realism: the artists simplified the image, making the animal look like a cartoon character. The head is on a pentagonal shield with a rectangular plate on which the name of the brand is written in large letters.
Iowa Heartlanders
Here at the professional hockey club, the Iowa Heartlanders logo with a deer radiates inner strength and power. It also conveys latent aggression, but there are no bright, provocative colors. Designers stopped on restrained shades of gray, diluting them for contrast with small yellow blotches. The yellow color is used only for the antlers to emphasize their branching. The eyes of the deer are threateningly narrowed, and the corners of the mouth are lowered down. The gaze is confident, and the head is turned to the right as if the animal is looking into the future with a challenge – the fur flutters in the wind, which creates the image of a “superhero.” To make the drawing modern, the artists emphasized the unevenness of color and detailed some of the contours.
Tunisair
For Tunisia’s national airline, Tunisair, the logo is a way to show the speed of air travel. Especially for this purpose, the artists have depicted the deer with many thin lines that are parallel and slightly diagonally inclined. They form a graceful silhouette of the animal, followed by so-called speed lines – stripes that emphasize the energy of movement. The animal is running, but because of the flying pose and visual lightness, it seems to be floating in the air. This perfectly captures the concept of an aviation company. Besides, reindeer can fly in fairy tales if we remember the New Year stories about Santa Claus. On the right, in bold red sans-serif letters, is the word “TUNISAIR,” and above it, on the top line, is the text in Arabic letters.
Hartford Insurance
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. is an organization that has been in the insurance business since 1810. In the case of Hartford Insurance, the logo contains a reference to the company’s name, as the word “Hartford” historically refers to a ford used by deer to cross from one bank to the other. Coincidentally, near the town of the same name, the flag and seal also depict a deer and a deer wading across a river. On the financial brand, the graceful animal is simply standing on the ground. You can see that it is perched on a hill, and in the background, somewhere below, blue, either sky or water. By the way, “hart” is a medieval hunting term for a deer. Therefore, the choice of the image for the logo was quite justified. The animal looks very menacing and seems to be dissatisfied with something. To the left of the image, the article “THE” is written in maroon letters, and below it is the main word from the name of the organization.
State College Spikes
The State College Spikes logo also features a deer, but its antlers are very short, unbranched, and bent forward, like those of a cow or bull. The animal is depicted jumping as if about to attack someone. The artists also drew sharp hooves in detail to create a sense of danger despite the cheerful cartoon style of the drawing. This aggressive attitude is justified by the fact that the emblem belongs to the university baseball club, which is important to show its readiness to fight for victory. But the color scheme is quite restrained: the designers used a combination of dark yellow and beige colors, complemented by blue contours. Only the red ribbon, which serves as the basis for the inscription “STATE COLLEGE” and wraps around the lower end of the originally conceived word “Spikes,” stands out brightly.
Hainan Airlines
China’s largest private airline, Hainan Airlines, has had a logo consisting of characters and a stylized lotus image since 2004. At the same time, the old emblem, used from 1989-1993, contained an unusual composition of a deer against a blue swirl. The silhouette of the animal was dark red, with a long, thin neck, the same graceful legs, a triangular body, and a tail with a tassel. And the front and hind legs were widely spaced, as if the forest beast were not leaping forward but taking off. This impression was strengthened by the fact that the deer was looking up. In the background, the artists depicted a blue wave or wing of three fragments. All elements of the logo symbolize the lightness of flight, which fits well with the concept of the Chinese air carrier.
SSC
Shelby Super Cars is a privately owned sports car manufacturer based in the United States. Given that the deer is a powerful and strong animal that develops tremendous speed, its image characterizes the cars from the best side. Therefore, the developers made this animal part of the visual identity of the brand. Designers who created the logo for SSC took as a basis a traditional heraldic shield with a pattern of dark blue and white rhombuses. In the center, it is crossed by an inverted chevron of red and white stripes of different thicknesses. At the very top is written the elegant cursive Latin phrase “In Veritate Victoria.” And below, on the pointed tip of the shield, there is a miniature head of a deer with branched horns. It is painted in gold color to stand out against the blue background. In this case, it is a symbol of luxury, high status, and good taste.
Glenfiddich
Scottish whisky Glenfiddich, following the example of German liqueur Jagermeister, decorates its bottles with a stag emblem. But Glenfiddich has a different emblem: the animal’s head is depicted not in full face but in profile and turned to the left. At the same time, there is a part of the back that makes it clear that the deer is looking back as if something attracted his attention. The silhouette is not detailed, but the artists emphasized the thin neck and huge antlers with sharp forks, depicting them with expressive brown lines. To show the visible part of the head, they used negative space by painting that part white. At the bottom, the name of the alcohol brand is written in black letters. The vertically elongated font with small sharp serifs gives the logo an elegant look.
Queensland Government
For the Queensland government, the logo is an important part of the corporate identity. In its structure, it almost completely repeats the coat of arms of this Australian state. The deer is represented here as a heraldic figure. He stands on his hind limbs on the left side and, together with a crane, holds a shield, on which in four segments are depicted the heads of a ram and a bull, a sheaf of wheat, and a golden pole with tools for mining. At the top are two stalks of sugar cane and a knight’s shield, and at the bottom of the ribbon is the state motto in Latin: “Audax at Fidelis.” The symbols on the shield represent the state’s major industries in the 19th century, and the stag shows the connection between Australia and Great Britain, as the coat of arms of the colony of Queensland was a personal gift from Queen Victoria.
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones logo also could not do without a stag, although it is not the main symbol. The logo of the famous franchise, based on the TV series of the same name, depicts the heads of four real and mythical animals: a stag, a dragon, a lion, and a wolf. The first represents House Baratheon, the second House Targaryen, the third House Lannister, and the fourth House Stark. They are arranged on the four sides of a circle, which is framed by an ornamented ring and contains a stylized floral pattern. And in the center, in a large horizontal rectangle, is written the phrase “GAME OF THRONES LEGACY,” divided into two lines. Both letters, “O,” are crossed by three vertical bars, making them look like stringed musical instruments.
Porsche
In the case of the German automaker Porsche, the logo features an image of a horse and only antlers from a deer. And, judging by the number, they would be enough for three animals at once. These elements are located inside a rectangular heraldic shield with a narrowed base, which is divided into four approximately equal segments. They are balanced by patterns of alternating red and black stripes. The entire graphic composition, including the forked horns, recalls the coat of arms of the Free People’s State of Württemberg, which was previously (until 1938) used as the emblem of Porsche.
Finlandia
For different types of Finlandia vodka, the logo on all labels is slightly different. However, the official version contains blue two-tiered lettering and an image of a deer under the sun. In the 1998-2003 emblem, the animals ran to the left. They were completely white, only outlined with blue around the edge. This created a sense of frosty freshness. The sun looked like a large dark red circle. The name used a bold sans-serif font with vertically elongated letters. In Finland, reindeer have a special significance: they are bred on farms and harnessed to sleds.
Milwaukee Bucks
Designers created an emblem with a deer for the Milwaukee Bucks professional basketball team, as this animal is its mascot. Previously, the emblem was cartoonish, but after a number of changes, the main symbol became a severe deer, which looks formidable and impressive. His eyes shine with white light, his mouth forms a perfectly straight line, and the horns have many sharp spikes. The head of the forest beast is predominantly dark green, but it also has white elements – negative space. An incomplete beige circle is used as the base. It breaks off where the branched horns begin. The circle is framed by two dark green rings with an inscription. The name of the club is written on it in large white letters. The font perfectly complements the brutal style of the design.
Fairfield Stags
The Fairfield Stags have a closely related logo and name. Indeed, for the sports teams of Fairfield University, the deer is the most important symbol that represents their strength, tenacity, courage, and perseverance. Therefore, the animal on the emblem is not just standing calmly but rushing forward. Dynamics is visible despite the fact that the artists depicted only the head and neck. To create the illusion of movement, they added sharp, elongated lines behind the forked antlers of the deer, directed straight ahead as if he was going to attack. The main part of the head is dark red, but there are patches of several shades of gray and black. The two-line inscription at the bottom is in italics, which also looks dynamic. The letters of the first word are decorated with triangular serifs, which are associated with sharp horns.
John Deere
In 1837, John Deere founded a steel plow manufacturing company and named it in his honor. Now, it is one of the largest American manufacturers of agricultural machinery, which everyone knows by the original emblem with the head of a deer. At John Deere, the logo, like the name, is a tribute to the name of the company’s founder. Designers depicted a proud forest animal at the moment of jumping: it pushes off the ground with its hind legs and bends its knees with its front legs. The yellow silhouette of the animal is on the background of a convex square with a green gradient. The base has a double border of yellow and dark green color. In the lower part, there is an inscription in capital letters without serifs. Although all characters are in upper case, the first letters “J” and “D” in the two words are enlarged.
Danville Dashers
The Danville Dashers hockey team also has an emblem in the shape of a deer. As in the emblems of other sports clubs, the animal looks powerful and aggressive. Its sharp antlers are set forward, and its orange eye glows with confidence in victory. Light gray fur is diluted with white spots and black outlines. Only the head and neck are present, which ends where the “D” of the word “Dashers” begins. In turn, the inscription “Danville” is located slightly above and to the right. A customized bold font is used for the inscription. All letters are uppercase, italicized, black, with an orange outline. Under the bottom is the same black and orange club.
Janssen
Designers who created a logo with a deer for the pharmaceutical company Janssen did not depict it in the form of a majestic animal. They presented it in the form of a funny cartoon character. The head of the forest animal looks very strange and is shaped like a half-carved door key. The white silhouette is placed in a dark blue rhombus. To the right of the emblem is a word mark: the name of the brand, divided into two lines. It is colored in the same dark blue and consists of bold sans-serif letters.
Browning
The Browning Gun Company has the most iconic logo. It contains a massive lettering that adorns the pistols, rifles, and shotguns produced by this American company. The letters with lots of straight and sharp angles create a sense of strength, reliability, and permanence. The light silhouette of a deer balances the visually heavy font. The animal’s head is outlined with just one graceful line, and it is interrupted from below. And at the top are the same graceful antlers.
