Susan Kare chose the ⌘ symbol in 1983, borrowing a Swedish road sign for “place of interest” after the Apple logo felt overused, and it still anchors shortcuts in macOS menus today… What other UI icon origin stories have stuck with you?
Like your 1983 road-sign, the hamburger icon came from Xerox Star (1981): Hamburger button - Wikipedia . Some hate it for hiding nav.
levi57
October 30, 2025, 10:27am
3
Bluetooth’s logo is a bind rune (“H”+“B” for Harald Bluetooth): Bluetooth - Wikipedia . Ever noticed the USB trident’s device shapes?