Brand at a glance
The Guinness logo pairs a distinctive harp with a strong wordmark. The harp’s history reaches back to early bottle labels, while the current artwork is a later treatment of that enduring symbol.
Guinness’s official history identifies 1862 as the harp’s first use on a bottle label. The displayed modern artwork is not presented as an 1862 drawing; it shows the symbol’s continuing role in the brand.
Source: Guinness harp-and-wordmark artwork by Evan O’Dunaigh, CC BY-SA 4.0
Guinness’s official story dates the harp’s first appearance on a bottle label to 1862. That is a documented use of the symbol, not a claim that today’s exact harp drawing or wordmark dates from that year. The emblem references the Brian Boru harp, an instrument preserved at Trinity College Dublin.
The wordmark and harp have been redrawn over time. Guinness notes major refinements in 1968 and 2005; the present identity keeps the instrument as its central cue. Compare this food-and-drink identity with Coca-Cola and Pepsi, whose wordmarks rely on different visual traditions.
The Guinness Story documents the harp’s use and identity changes. Displayed harp-and-wordmark artwork: Guinness-Logo-1.png, Evan O’Dunaigh, CC BY-SA 4.0; the image is credited here and remains subject to that license.
