The original logo of Lyle’s Golden Syrup has remained constant for over 140 years, earning the Guinness World Record for the world’s oldest unchanged brand packaging. However, in 2024, the company decided to modernize its logo and packaging design to appeal to a 21st century audience. The new logo features a lion’s head and a single bee, both in a golden syrupy shape.
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> The story of the logo of Lyle’s Golden Syrup is based on a biblical tale of Samson and the lion. According to the Book of Judges, Samson killed a lion with his bare hands and later found a swarm of bees and honey inside its carcass. He ate some of the honey and gave some to his parents, without telling them where it came from. He also posed a riddle to his wedding guests: “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.”
> The founder of Lyle’s Golden Syrup, Abraham Lyle, was a religious man who chose this story as a symbol of his product. He registered the image of a dead lion surrounded by bees as his trademark in 1883, along with the slogan “Out of the strong came forth sweetness“.
> In terms of just the logo, another British company, Twinings Tea has used the same logo — capitalized font beneath a lion crest — continuously for 237 years, making it the world’s oldest unaltered logo in continuous use.
> The first registered trademark ever issued by the British government belongs to the red triangle logo of the Bass Ale, in use since 1876. It became so popular that Edouard Manet featured it in his 1882 work “A Bar at the Folies Bergere”.