Pontiac is a brand of automobiles first produced in 1926, and sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico by General Motors (GM), marketed as an "athletic" brand specializing in mainstream performance vehicles.

The Pontiac brand was introduced by General Motors in 1926 as the 'companion' marque to GM's Oakland Motor Car line. The Pontiac name was first used in 1906 by the Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works. The name was taken from Chief Pontiac, an American Indian chief who led an unsuccessful uprising against the British shortly after the French and Indian War. The Oakland Motor Company and Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works Company merged in November 1908 under the name of the Oakland Motor Car Company. The operations of both companies were joined together in Pontiac, Michigan (of Oakland County) to build the Cartercar. General Motors in 1909 purchased Oakland.

The original logo was that of an American Indian headdress, which was used as a logo until 1956. The American Indian headdress is obviously connected to Chief Pontiac referenced earlier. This was updated to the currently used American Indian red arrowhead design for 1957. The arrowhead logo is also known as the Dart. The logo has a distinctive Red and a silver star in the middle. I am not sure what the significance of the star is but a lot of the Native American art contains elements of nature such as the sun, moon and stars. 

Panera Bread (called St. Louis Bread Company in the St. Louis area) is a chain of bakery-café restaurants in the United States and Canada which sells breads, sandwiches, soups, bakery items, and organic foods; some locations offer dinner pizzas. Panera is considered a "fast casual" restaurant.

The Panera Bread logo is an illustration of a woman with flowing hair holding a loaf of bread in her arm.  This also goes with the company slogan of "A loaf of bread in every arm". The lady holding the bread is also known as "Mother Bread". The logo and the entire branding for the new company was developed by Heckler Associates and they host a very interesting case study of how they rebranded "the St. Loius Bread Company" to "Panera Bread". See their website for details. 

Interestingly, the process of making sourdough bread requires a small piece of the dough used to make the previous batch of bread dough. This starter piece is often called the "mother." Whenever Panera opens stores in a new region, a piece of the original starter that was created in the 1980s is lovingly carried to the new bakery to ensure that original Panera quality and character will rise again and again.

Dabur India Limited is a leading Indian consumer goods company with interests in  health care, Personal care and foods. Over more than a 100 years we have been dedicated to providing nature-based solutions for a healthy and holistic lifestyle. The original logo of the company was the Banyan Tree.

The new Dabur identity modernizes the 100-year old equity of the Dabur brand by subtly transforming the tree. While it retains the essence of the banyan tree, it now projects a contemporary image, in consonance with today's lifestyle. The tree, a symbol of nature, is indelibly regarded as a provider of shelter, food and protection. If you observe closely, you will see that the tree trunk mirrors the form for three people with their arms raised conveying exultation in achievement. The broad trunk represents stability and its multiple branches represent growth.

Skoda Auto is an automobile manufacturer in the Czech Republic. In 1991, it became a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. The origins of Skoda go back to the early 1890s where, like many long-established car manufacturers, the company started out with the manufacture of bicycles.

It was 1894, and 26-year old Václav Klement, who was a bookseller by trade in Mladá Boleslav, in today's Czech Republic, which was then part of Austria-Hungary, was unable to obtain the right spare parts to repair his German bicycle. Klement returned his bicycle to the manufacturers, Seidel and Naumann, with a letter, in Czech, asking for them to carry out repairs, only to receive a reply, in German, stating: "If you would like an answer to your inquiry, you should try writing in a language we can understand".

A disgusted Klement, despite not having any previous technical experience, then decided to start his own bicycle repair shop, which he and Václav Laurin opened in 1895 in Mladá Boleslav. Before going into business partnership with Klement, Laurin was an already established bicycle manufacturer from the nearby town of Turnov.

Subaru is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries Co., Ltd (FHI). FHI was established on July 15, 1953 when five Japanese companies, known as Fuji Kogyo, Fuji Jidosha Kogyo, Omiya Fuji Kogyo, Utsunomiya Sharyo and Tokyo Fuji Sangyo, joined to form one of Japan's largest manufacturers of transportation equipment. Subaru is known mainly for its all-wheel drive vehicles such as the Subaru Forester and the Outback. 


The company is influenced by the star cluster Pleiades. In Japanese the cluster name is "Subaru", which roughly translated into English means, "to govern", "unite," or "gather together".  The large star in the logo represents Fuji Heavy Industries, and the five smaller stars represent the current five companies that are united under the FHI group. In essense the logo represent the unification of 5 companies mentioned above to become one large entity called the Fuji Heavy Industry. 

AOL, America Online was once a powerhouse in providing users with dialup access to the Internet. At one point it had over 30 millions subscribers. In its prime, AOL was always associated with poor services and poor customer service. With the advent of broadband services, AOL is only a shadow of its former self. 

Shown alongside is a parody of the AOL logo. This logo was taken with permission from Syndicated Designs.