Trademarked - The Starbucks logo

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Unless you live in Seattle, Washington, Starbucks' birthplace in 1971, now headquarters for the world’s largest coffeehouse chain, you might not have heard of the Siren, or even recognized her as the “green mythological creature who’s staring into your soul as you drink your latte” (Flandreau, 2016). She is at the center of the company logo, printed on all Starbucks cups. Consider looking more closely, and you will notice two fish tales curling up on each side of the female figure, appearing with outstretched arms, wearing a crown with a five-point star in the center. She is the current Starbucks Siren. A much more concealed Siren than some of the earlier full-bodied versions of the Siren logo (see below). 

For absolute certainty, you might also consult the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS), at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), for records of the Starbucks trademarks. Browsing through the more than 800 trademark records, belonging to Starbucks, you will find descriptions of the various Starbucks logos. For example, the below description of the latest pending Starbucks Trademark Application 90749326, published for opposition on February 22, 2022, specifies: 

The mark consists of a circular seal with the design of a siren (a two-tailed mermaid) wearing a crown with a five-point star in the middle of the crown.

Discovering the Starbucks Siren, the two-tailed mermaid, nonetheless begs another question: Why a Siren? On the one hand, according to Raghav (2021), the company lore informs us that Starbucks was originally named Pequod, after the whaling ship in Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick. But it was, Starbuck, the name of the First Mate that was finally selected, and retained, for the first coffeehouse in Seattle. On the other hand, in Homer’s Odyssey, also a masterpiece of adventure at sea, albeit in a different genre, Sirens are half human creatures that lure sailors to shipwreck with the sweetness of their voices. Thus, considering company lore anew, the Siren synchronistically fit the bill for a Starbucks logo, on more counts than one. 

First, the magnetism of the Siren, within the context of her mythology, was the strongest among many other logo possibilities, when the founders chanced upon her image and story. Clearly, the Siren’s song might be transposed to attract customers. Secondly, Seattle is a port city, located on the Puget Sound, the second largest estuary in the United States, which creates for Seattleites a very strong bond with the sea. Finally, according to Flandreau (2016), this bond with the sea is one that the company overtly celebrates, not only regionally, but most importantly, because the coffee staple that the company imports, travels on ships to Seattle, from many different parts of the world. 

End of the Siren’s seductive song? Not quite. According to Calabrese (2015), an image of the Siren, grasping her tails, curled up on each side of her, within a circular frame, strikingly similar to the earlier Starbucks Siren logo, is found, for example, on the floor mosaic of a 7th-century Byzantine cathedral in Pesaro, Italy, and then, 500 years later in a section of a large mosaic adorning the medieval Otranto Cathedral, in Italy (see image). Interestingly, as Calabrese notes, while tracking the Starbucks Siren through time, the imagery of the relevant section of the Otranto Cathedral appeared precisely dedicated to warning worshippers of the dangers and temptations that might lead them astray. Thus, she points out that the luring effect of the Starbucks Siren logo, on a medieval customer, might have been exactly the opposite of what was intended. 

Calabrese concludes her research on the Siren, suggesting that perhaps one day, if a Starbucks were to open, just opposite from the Otranto Cathedral piazza, an amazing face-to-face encounter might occur between Sirens, designed more than 1000 years apart. However, this might not be the first encounter of this kind, since the earlier and later concealed Siren, stylized on Starbucks coffee cups, is also found as a motif of Cretan embroidery, dating back to the 12th century, at the end of the Byzantine era (Krody Belger, 2004). Embroidery found on the largest of Greek Islands, where Starbucks already has a coffee shop, in Heraklion, the capital of Crete. 

At the end of the day, the Starbucks Siren is probably a great way to strike a conversation, while sipping good coffee (or herbal tea) in a Starbucks goblet, sporting the logo. Consider, for example, that the Starbucks Siren, found at more than 30,000 stores, in 62 countries, is half woman, half fish, whereas the two Sirens In Homer’s Odyssey were half human, half bird, while those depicted on the circa 470BC Siren Vase, at The British Museum were half men, half bird. (See The British Museum close-up images). Specifically, the vase depicts the part of The Odyssey recited in Book 12 where Circe warns Ulysses about two Sirens and their seducing songs, saying: ”Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men’s ears with wax, that none of them may hear; but if you like, you can listen yourself, for you may get the men to bind you, as you stand upright on a crosspiece, halfway up the mast…”.  Prophetic instructions that Ulysses followed to the T (see vase image above), to gain safe passage for his ship, and his men. 

On a penultimate note, whether half-bird or half-fish, male or female, perhaps that the sirens' only fault was to seek completion. 

References

Calabrese, A. (Nov. 10, 2015). The Siren on Your Starbucks Cup Was Born in 7th-Century Italy.   

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-siren-on-your-starbucks-cup-was-born-in-7thcentury-italy 

Flandreau, M. (Dec. 23, 2016 ). Who is the Starbucks siren?
https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2016/who-is-starbucks-siren/

History of the Starbucks logo.
https://www.tailorbrands.com/blog/starbucks-logo

Homer (circa 8th century BC). The Odyssey. Robert Fitzgerald translation. Kindle Edition. ClassicBooks by KTHTK.

Krody Belger, S. (2004). The Tale of the Two-Tailed Mermaid A Case Study in the Origins of the Cretan Embroidery Style.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/489/

Raghav, S. (Sept. 24, 2021). Starbucks logo: an overview of the design, history and evolution.
https://www.designhill.com/design-blog/starbucks-logo-overview-of-design-history-and-evolution/

Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS).
https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search 

The British Museum Siren Vase. 

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1843-1103-31

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). www.uspto.gov