North Carolina Logos

Famous Logos From North Carolina

North Carolina is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. The Charlotte metropolitan area, with a population of 2,595,027 in 2020, is the most populous metro area in the state and the largest banking center in the nation after New York City.

The state expanded rapidly in its early history thanks to its exports of cotton and tobacco. After World War II, its economy grew quickly along with the growth of Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham.

Research Triangle Park, established in 1959, is the largest research park in the nation, and it formed near Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, consistently important areas in the state. Today, the Research Triangle metro is a prominent area of universities and advanced scientific and technical research.

By the late 20th century and moving into the 21st century, economic industries like technology, pharmaceuticals, banking, food processing, vehicle parts, and tourism have grown to represent North Carolina's main economic forces for growth. 

Here’s a brief look at the top three most well-known brands from the state.

Bank of America

Bank of America is a North Carolina-based finance company that provides a full range of investment and banking services to individuals, entrepreneurs, and multinational corporations. It was created in 1998 when NationsBank merged with BankAmerica and is now one of the largest representatives of the U.S. banking industry. 

The bank’s early logos featured its corporate symbol - a monogram of the letters “B” and “A.” 

After the merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica, the current Bank of America logo officially appeared. It featured a red and blue abstract American flag-like shape with hidden “B” and “A” letters mixed in with the six colored stripes (the “B” is in the blue, and the “A” is in the red). The name of the financial institution sits on the left in navy blue.

In 2018, Lippincott updated this logo to have thinner lines, brighter colors, all-caps lettering, and greater letter spacing.

Lowe’s

Lowe’s is an American home warehouse retail chain specializing in building materials, home appliances, and all things house. The firm was founded and operates in North Carolina, and the founder of the company Lucius Smith Lowe started it all the way back in 1921.

The first store appeared in North Wilkesboro, NC, and was actually called North Wilkesboro Hardware. The Lowe family had been involved in the store for decades, and the surname survived even a changing of hands. 

It’s also the basis for the logo. 

The iconic logo was first introduced in 1965 when we saw the current font appear, but the house silhouette didn’t arrive until 1997. It was then that designers took the existing text, updated the color, and placed it against a blue geometric house. That version has only been slightly modified since its creation to be the simplified version they have now. The red-gray outline and tagline have been removed, and the wordmark has moved down a bit and sits against a lighter shade of blue.

Honeywell

Honeywell International, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, manufactures an impressive range of products, from thermostats to barcode devices. They even have divisions for construction, industrial technologies, state-of-the-art materials, and even aerospace. From paper shredders and household generators to airplanes and rockets, Honeywell products pack in the power.

When it comes to the logo, the Honeywell icon has typically always been a wordmark, but it’s changed as the company’s name itself has changed, with versions for Honeywell Heating Specialty Company and Minneapolis-Honeywell. Each variant used a different font, including an emblem that also used a single capital “H” in a rectangle. The color palette has also changed but was usually either black or red.

A variety of experiments with the lettering design ended with the designers settling on Helvetica. The font has been used for the logo since the 1950s, but its color has changed from black to the current bold red.