Did you know that the author of the logo of the famous British Band Queen was Freddie Mercury himself? Surprisingly, this is true.
Prior to becoming a renowned vocalist, Mercury graduated from the prestigious Ealing College of Art in West London with a degree in Art and Design. They say that the family of Farrukh Bulsar (this is Freddie’s real name) even opened a shop where they sold his paintings.
In addition to painting, young Mercury was fond of music. The latter eventually took over and turned the Indian Iranian from Zanzibar into a world star.
But shortly before the release of Queen’s first album, Mercury’s skills as an illustrator came in handy. On the back cover of the disc appeared, still in a modest size, his drawing with the band’s logo-coat of arms.
The pretentious and detailed logo perfectly suited Queen’s pompous and colorful music:
The group’s fame grew, and with it the size of the logo on its album covers increased. On the classic CDs A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races, he already takes up the entire cover:
In addition, the Queen logo was actively used on souvenir symbols and took its place on the band’s concert drum:
But what did the elements of this ornate coat of arms mean, what meaning did Freddie put in them?
First of all, this logo (like the very name of Queen – “Queen”) is a reference to the attributes of the British monarchy. In the center of the coat of arms, against the background of the letter Q, is the traditional crown of the monarch. The composition itself and its heraldic motif are a tribute to the coat of arms of the British Empire. Compare:
And the characters inhabiting the coat of arms are the result of Mercury’s passion for astrology and the ancient Iranian religion – Zoroastrianism. Freddie surrounded the crown with zodiac signs for all four members of the group of logo design agency.
Guitarist Brian May by Cancer horoscope (in the logo he turned into a crab):
Bass guitarist John Deacon’s zodiac sign is Leo:
Drummer Roger Taylor is also a Leo by horoscope:
And finally, Freddie Mercury himself is Virgo by the sign of the zodiac. It is represented in the logo by two figurines of fairies. Perhaps this double image is a hint of the bisexuality of the Queen vocalist:
The most mysterious element of the logo is the fantastic bird at the top. It is believed that this is the Phoenix rising from the ashes.
But here it is worth turning to the national roots of Mercury. He was born into a Parsi family, that is, Indian Iranians (Persians) professing the pre-Muslim religion – Zoroastrianism. In ancient Iranian mythology, the Simurg bird plays an important role (by the way, perhaps it is her image that underlies the ideas of our Firebird).
In the famous epic of Firdousi “Shahname” she finds and brings up the royal son Zal. When the time comes to part and the grown Zal, the magic bird gives him three of its feathers. If Zal needs Simurg’s help, he will need to set fire to the feather and the bird will appear before him.
According to another version of the myth, when Zal grows up and leaves, Simurg throws himself into the fire. And this is already very similar to the image of a bird on fire in the logo.
In addition, Simurg in mythology serves as the patron saint of groups of people (tribes and clans). And in the logo, the spreading wings Simurg seems to be guarding the four Queen members.
Such an esoteric meaning was put into the Queen’s heraldic logo by a former art college student Freddie Mercury.
By the way, the Bohemian Rhapsody, released in November, reflects the moment of its appearance.