17 BAYER 1863, Barmen (now part of Wuppertal), Germany Founders Friedrich Bayer, Johann Friedrich Weskott Company Bayer AG HQ Leverkusen, Germany www.bayer.com
The chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer was founded in 1863 as ‘Friedrich Bayer et comp.’ by dye salesman Friedrich Bayer and master dyer Johann Friedrich Weskott, manufacturing synthetic dyestuffs. Bayer was transformed into a joint stock company in 1881, called Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co. The first Bayer logo depicted a lion with the grid on which Saint Lawrence was martyred. It was based on the coat of arms of the city of Elberfeld, where Bayer was headquartered at the time. The level of detail makes it hard to see, but a helmet and a series of other decorations were added in 1886.
Bayer sign gets cleaned at Cologne-Bonn Airport, Germany, 2006 (Bayer AG)
Increasing export was one of the reasons for the new, simpler logo of 1904, called ‘the Bayer Cross’, which was designed by Bayer employee Hans Schneider. The word ‘Bayer’ was written horizontally and vertically, intersecting at the ‘Y’. Bayer’s Aspirin was exclusively available from pharmacists and doctors. Since that precluded the option of branded packaging, the Bayer Cross was imprinted on the tablets for recognition.
Bayer developed into a chemical company operating internationally. The logo was redesigned in 1895. It showed a winged lion holding a caduceus standing against the globe, to illustrate self-confidence and openness to the world. Bayer’s biggest success came with the invention of the ‘drug of the century’, Aspirin, which was launched onto the market in 1899.
In 1929, the Cross was modernized and adopted the look of the actual Aspirin tablet; it has hardly changed since. The Bayer Cross became the most important element of the company’s image and acts as a seal of quality for Bayer’s products and services worldwide. A Bayer logotype and two green and blue bars were added in 1989.
‘Genuine Bayer Aspirin’, detail from ad, USA, 1920s
In 2002, Bayer became a management holding company with legally independent operating subgroups (HealthCare, Chemicals, and CropScience) acting under the common Bayer umbrella. The Bayer Cross became three-dimensional and incorporated the company’s colors to give the logo a modern and relevant design without impairing its recognizability. As part of a clarifying branding structure, the Cross was slightly changed in 2010, removing the 3D effects for a stronger logo.