When color television came on the scene in the 1950s, John Graham, director of design at NBC, thought of the colorful feathers of a peacock. He created a logo based on that idea, and in the early days the feathers would fan out as an announcer boasted, “The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC.”
Though the NBC peacock has undergone changes over time, it remains one of the most easily identifiable logos in advertising history. If you’ve ever owned a television set, you’ve seen the NBC peacock.
Of course, logos are everywhere — the McDonald’s arches, the multicolored G for Google, the purple and orange FedEx symbol we see on the sides of delivery trucks, the colored rings for the Olympics, and, of course, the mysterious siren on the green Starbucks emblem.
The latest news in the logo world is that the Twitter logo is no longer the iconic blue chirping bird, and everyone is full of opinions about that!
A logo is a distinctive symbol of a company, organization, publication, person, service or idea. Companies pay designers big bucks to develop an eye-catching logo, and I’m talking hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But where did the word “logo” come from to begin with? Would you believe it has biblical roots?
Our English term “logo” comes from an important Greek word found in the New Testament — logos, which is typically translated as “word.” This is the term John used when he wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
Jesus Himself is the Word — the Logos. When we follow Him, we are marked with His love. It’s like a logo stamped onto us. That distinctive sign marks us as belonging to Jesus. It shows up at every point in our lives, our attitudes and especially our behavior.
And it’s not just any old love. It’s New Testament agape love.
Paul tells us, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
The wonderful word Paul used for love — agape — means “spiritual, divine love.” It’s love that comes from God alone.
There are very few things in the Bible that are equated totally with God. But the Bible says God is agape — God is love. Whatever you understand about God is wrapped up in the term agape.
This love has been defined in various ways, but one of the greatest definitions I have found is this: Agape love is the power that moves us to respond to someone’s needs with no expectation of reward.
That’s the way God loves us. His love is sacrificial, poured out on our behalf. That defines the term agape. It’s the willingness to give of oneself totally, with abandon, for the good of the one who is the object of one’s love, not expecting anything in return, not hoping for any reward. What reward could God have expected from us when He gave Himself on our behalf? His was a wholehearted, unselfish, sacrificial love.
The most important thing about us is not what we think, say or do — it is how we love. Love is the preeminent grace. It’s as if God were saying to us, “If you could have any one quality in your life, let Me tell you which one to choose: Choose love. That will help you to be what I want you to be.”
The NBC announcer used to say, “The following program is brought to you in living color.” The Lord wants to say about all of us, “These people, known by their love, are brought to you by the King of kings.” That’s a more enduring — and colorful — identity.
Love is the final measure of our faith. It’s the closest we can come to the heart of God. It’s the best way we can communicate the Logos — the Lord Jesus Christ — to the world around us.
That’s the greatest trademark secret of all: We are known by our love.
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