Logo designing seems to have taken over the political world! With Obama’s logo capturing the attention in the last elections, other political candidates of 2012 campaign appear to have decided to step up the game of their campaign. The logo design competitions begin!

Who said that only companies or businesses can use logos? Logo designs are a representation and an identity. They are a great way to gain public attention and appear to have gained a dynamic momentum at the political front. These can become a very strong factor in branding a candidate.

US Political Logo Designs – Main Factors

The standard colors used for the US political party logos are red, white and blue, which obviously represent the United States and the American flag, while creating the feeling of patriotism. Because of their importance, political logo designs have to be created while keeping in mind all the important rules of logo designing. A political logo can make or break the image of a political candidate!

While some candidates have since dropped out of the running for the presidential nomination, we still wanted to take a look at their logos. With this post, I am covering the current and past competitors of the 2012 presidential race.

Barack Obama’s Logo (D)

This logo tops my list because of its genius design. Designed by Chicago-based agency Sender LLC, it was the flagship symbol for Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. It is one of the most recognized and talked about political logos.

Simple and hopeful, the logo stands for “a new day.”  The overall “O” image obviously stands for Obama. The inner, white semi-circle represents a rising sun over the plains (here in red and white). The red, white and blue in the design represent the American flag.

The same image is being reused for Obama’s 2012 campaign, only this time the ‘O’ stands in place of the zero in 2012. It continues to deliver the same hopeful message of change.

Ron Paul’s Logo Design (R)

Classy and simple, Ron Paul’s logo design puts the focus on the candidates name. The “A” in the logo stands for “America” and has the colors of the American flag. The use of Sherif font gives the logo a classic and elegant look.

Jon Huntsman’s Logo Design (R)

This logo stands apart from the rest of the political logos in this post with its unconventional use of black and its modern approach. Simple yet strong, the logo design has stirred up quite a controversy. Some criticize that it is ego-centric and it doesn’t represent patriotism, but rather stands out as a brand name. Many are even calling it a cologne logo lookalike. What do you think?

Herman Cain’s Logo (R)

This political logo has a positive appeal to it and does not seem to be too outlandish or ego-centric. The symbol of torch used in the logo represents openness, respect for the past and a hope for a brighter future. I believe it should have had an elegant font; currently, the symbol stands out more than the candidate’s name itself.

Michele Bachmann’s Logo (R)

Here’s another political logo design subjected to quite a few controversies. Many believe that this logo also pays tribute to a toothpaste squiggle (see one right in the middle?). While others say the red and white design causes confusion between Austria’s and America’s flags. Although the font is simple, the creative use of red and white color stripes fail to inspire.

Mitt Romney’s Logo Design (R)

Romney’s logo design focuses on the candidate’s last name, but doesn’t really seem to do justice to the ‘R.’ While the ‘R’ in the logo stands to create a sense of togetherness, the colors and style have been criticized to look like Aquafresh toothpaste’s squiggle rather than the American flag. It has also been said that the joined ‘EY’ at the end is a bit over dramatic.

Rick Santorum’s Logo (R)

The first thing you notice about this logo is the soaring eagle with the letter ‘O’ behind it, representing the shining sun. The eagle here is the symbol of courage and represents rising high, although some might think as of it as related to the Native Americans (but that is not the case). After all, the bald eagle is the most popular American symbol.

Tell us, what do you think of these political logos? Which of these do you think represent the candidates the best?

Within American politics, there are several parties where citizens can become a part of, usually dependent on their viewpoints. It is said that the two most well-known political parties in American are the Democrats and Republicans. Surprising to some, the two parties are represented by the symbols of a donkey and an elephant (respectively).

Initially these animal symbols were used on campaign banners, but over the years they have become two of the most outstanding logos in American politics. Let’s take a look at the brief history behind these two political logos. We’ll also review how these two animal symbols came to represent the two of the biggest political parties of US.

The Democratic Donkey

The Democrats were first to use the donkey as their representative symbol. The donkey represents the Democrats’ beginning 1828.  The running President of 1828 was President Andrew Jackson and he was labeled as a “jackass” due to his populist views and stubborn nature. His main slogan was, “Let the people rule.” Although the cartoon was depicted to mock him, it was later adopted by Jackson himself to represent his Democratic party in 1837.

The Republican Elephant

Some believe that being a Republican influenced Thomas Nast on choosing a bull elephant to represent his party. However, the Republican elephant was not as intentional as Jackson’s donkey. It was formed through a series of events involving New York’s two popular magazines, The Herald and The Harper’s Weekly. The Herald once ran a story of zoo animals being let loose and roaming in New York’s Central Park looking for prey. Cartoonist Thomas Nast drew a cartoon of a donkey wearing lion’s skin, chasing away all the animals (given below). This cartoon was a metaphor for President Ulysses S. Grant whom was running for third term presidency and there was a significant amount of conflict in the Democratic Party. This was one reason that the cartoon included a panicked elephant bearing the label, “Republican Vote.”  Ever since then, the elephant became the Republican Party’s its main symbol.

Discussion and Meaning of these Symbols

The Democratic donkey represents hard work, diligence, humbleness and a dedication to the USA. The Republicans however, strongly disagree and consider the donkey a symbol of stubbornness.

On the other hand, the Republican elephant represents intelligence, dignity and is considered as the symbol of strength (as it is seen as the only animal that stood up to a lion). In contrast to this, the Democrats see the elephant as comparable to a circus animal.

Both of these symbols found firm foundation in the growing American pop culture and were copyrighted to represent the two political parties. The political logos have the prominent standardized colors and stars of the American flag. Generally, the Republican elephant logo upholds 3 stars while the Democratic donkey logo design has 4. However, the donkey can also been seen with a variation of 3 stars.

The Man Behind the Logo Designs

Thomas Nast was a political cartoonist, who usually drew satirical cartoons depicting the state of American politics. It was his idea to use the two animals for representing the Democratic and Republican parties. Thomas Nast was born in 1840 and had a great career being a caricaturist, an illustrator and a painter. Apart from the political symbols, he is also well acclaimed for the sketch of fat and jolly Santa Claus carrying gifts for little children (previously, Santa was depicted as skinny). Although the artist died in 1902, his sketches and drawings still live on.

There you go! Wasn’t that an interesting history? Let us know what you think of the Republican and Democratic logos.