The backstory and meaning of the
Rooster Logo
designed by
How the rooster came to be my logo all started back in 1996. At that time I had a blues band called the Snake Hips and we added the old Willie Dixon blues song, "Little Red Rooster" to our repertoire. This inspired our bassist Andrew Martino to gift me that Christmas with a folk art painting titled 'Little Red Rooster'.
As the years went by many different people kept randomly gifting me with rooster stuff. Figurines, salt & pepper shakers, oven mitts - you name it. Sometimes I would try and politely explain to the well meaning gift givers that I wasn't really that into roosters, but for some reason it just kept happening.
Finally we had the "Little Red Rooster Club"
Nikki Dana, Cecil Dana, Scott Anderson, and Katherine Laster coming to hear the band every Tuesday night at our nightclub gig. These folks would crow like roosters every time we played that old Willie Dixon blues song! Mystifying, entertaining and bemusing many an uninitiated club goer.
A couple years later while John Forward was designing the CD package for my
"Farewell to A Rose"
album I asked him if he could come up with a little rooster icon as a subtle inside joke to my friends in the old Red Rooster Club? No surprise that John proceeded to come up with a very cool rooster design that immediately suggested a potential logo and merchandise motif.
It was becoming obvious at this point that this rooster thing truly had a life of it's own, but it still had one more hurdle to clear. Before approving this as a logo I realized I had to do some research on what exactly does the Rooster image represent? Well... quite a lot as it turns out.
I should have known the angels had been guiding me in the right direction all along!
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The Rooster:
A brief history of this iconic bird and the enduring power of it's image through the ages:
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Jewish tradition poses the rooster as an emblem of gallantry and honesty. They were so revered that temple officers were called "rooster" as one of their titles.
Native Americans believed that the Rooster as a spiritual guide teaches you the lesson of using one’s voice for great good.
Indeed in the Christian faith we're told that after Peter denied knowing Jesus three times it was the lowly rooster who delivered the proud and fiery apostle his humbling spiritual wake up call.
The Indians also held that Roosters are not just timekeepers of our world, but as the herald of dawn the Rooster also gives you hope, and mental keenness. Those who carry rooster medicine inside rarely find themselves depressed or lacking energy.
Then of course the Chinese recognize the Rooster's virility, courage, and intelligence...
Clearly this is a highly potent symbol!
Thanks for taking a moment to read the story behind the
Rooster logo!