Filed under: Retro Mac
Blast from the Past: The Story of the Apple Clover Symbol
Do you remember Andy Hertzfeld? He was the author of a huge part of the original Mac ROM and he discusses the creation of the Apple command logo in this writeup. Turns out that the logo was based on a Swedish symbol used to flag noteworthy attractions at campgrounds. Susan Kare, Apple's bitmap artist, found it in an international symbol dictionary. So why didn't they just use an Apple symbol? Steve Jobs had had enough. "There are too many Apples on the screen! It's ridiculous! We're taking the Apple logo in vain! We've got to stop doing that!" Neat story to read through, and only one of Hertzfeld's many marvelous Apple reminiscences. Although the actual proper name of the icon is the Saint Johns Cross, when describing this key to others, I've called it the "butterfly icon", "squiggle icon", 'propeller icon" as well as "clover". What names have you TUAW readers given to the clover symbol?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Solsys said 7:40AM on 1-01-2007
I've always called it the "Command Symbol" since it generally refers to the Command Key.
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Greg said 7:50AM on 1-01-2007
What are the key short cuts for making the ⌘ symbol, or are there none.
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Gustav said 8:41AM on 1-01-2007
I've allways called it the box button
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Francis said 8:06AM on 1-01-2007
I just call it 'Command'
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Ian said 8:10AM on 1-01-2007
I call it "splat", because it kind of looks like a squashed bug, and "splat-V" or "splat-Q" is easy to say.
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Rupert said 8:13AM on 1-01-2007
In Germany it is sometimes called the "cauliflower" key.
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Nymert said 8:43AM on 1-01-2007
In Sweden the most common nickname, when it comes to computing, is "kringla", meaning "prezel" ... sometimes it is also called "runa" (Eng. "rune"), that is "an old strange letter that nobody knows what it means".
More formally the letter is called 'Sankt Hanskors'. Those of you who read Swedish (doesn't everyone?) can learn all about it from the Swedish government/authorities, e.g. http://www.raa.se/cms/extern/informationstorg/besoksinformation/vanliga_fragor.html
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Scott Stevenson said 9:26AM on 1-01-2007
Some Apple folks used to call the reboot sequence Option-Flower-Power, or something like that.
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stretchdog said 8:44AM on 1-01-2007
While I call it command (or CMD when typing...) I call it "Apple" when describimg the key to newbies...
Occasionally I'll slip and call it "Open Apple".
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Kevin S. said 8:53AM on 1-01-2007
everyone i know (they're all mac-illiterate) doesn't have a clue what "command" means. They think the key is the "apple" key.
i tell them to look at it, and then to look at me with a straight face and tell me it looks like an apple.
then they politely ask what it's called.
and i tell them it's the command key, since that's what it registers as. i have never seen a keyboard that says "cmd" there, so i just assume that's what we're supposed to call it.
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Gregory Cohen said 8:52AM on 1-01-2007
our shop runs on nothing but macs. One of my employees in frustration while trying to teach a employee to use the macs named it the "Puppy paw key", as he saw it as a stylized puppy foot print.
His medications are making him feel better now ...
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Tauno Vintola said 9:23AM on 1-01-2007
As earlier a Swedish reader commented this symbol is also known in Finland. It's called here "Hannun vaakuna", which means something like "The Arms of Hans". It is ancient symbol before the time of Christianity, but I don't actually know of symbol of what.
In smaller Finnish coins just before the time of Euros, it was used on the backside of those coins.
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Sebastian Adorjn Dyhr said 10:11AM on 1-01-2007
Hi.
In Danish, it is I guess normally called 'æble' (Apple) or 'kommando' (comnmand); but at the University of Aarhus, where I long time ago (until 2001) studied linguistics, we called it the 'museumstast' (museum key) - and the explanation is the same as for the origin of the symbol, since it's used in Danmark as in Sweeden marking museums etc. On my keyboard there is an apple with the other sign, And I thin, it has been like that always, but I don't remember seeing 'cmd' on the key.
Btw - Happy New Year.
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Jrgen said 9:39AM on 1-01-2007
In Norway we use the same symbol. I don't think we have a name for it though. But it's used to "noteworthy attractions". Practical!
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Tauno Vintola said 9:41AM on 1-01-2007
Little more information I just found: St. John's Arms (as it is called in English-speaking countries) is originally Northern European and Estonian symbol for good luck. It was also used for decoration on jewels. Earlier in history it was painted for instace on houses, barns etc. to bring good luck and protect them.It was used also on different wooden tools used earlier and wooden skis. The oldest St. John's Arms found here in Finland are from the 11th century.
Nowadays it is used to show beautiful places for tourists (as in Sweden also).
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Danny said 9:58AM on 1-01-2007
I've always called the key 'splodge' and I've not had people having difficulty knowing which key I'm referring to, e.g. when doing training. I thought this was quite common, at least in the UK, but now I begin to wonder.
Danny
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Sherman Homan said 10:35AM on 1-01-2007
I have always called it the "Apple" key instead of the "command" key...just to irritate Windoze users.
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Darren said 10:14AM on 1-01-2007
There's a tiny bit of Apple II heritage in the modern Mac keyboard:
During Lisa development, Apple created the 'Command' key as a short cut to menu commands, and it was actually labeled 'Command' on the Lisa keyboard prototypes from 1981 and 1982.
By the time the Lisa as released, the 'Command' label was replaced with the Apple symbol, but it was still referred to as 'Command' internally and in the documentation.
That same year the Apple IIe was released, with two Apple keys on its keyboard.
When the Mac was released, the Apple symbol was replaced with the cloverleaf, but was still called the 'Command' key by developers. The original Mac keyboards had no Apple symbol like modern Macs, just a cloverleaf.
Two years later Apple developed ADB (Apple Desktop Bus). All new Macs built between 1987 and 1998 used ADB to connect the keyboard and mouse to the computer, but the first machine to feature ADB was not a Mac, but the Apple II GS.
The Apple II GS keyboard featured both the cloverleaf for its Mac-like GUI, and the Apple symbol for compatibility with older Apple II software that referred to the key as the 'Open Apple Key'. All ADB keyboards from the Apple II GS and on feature both cloverleaf and Apple symbols on the command key.
That's why the key is called the 'Command' key and has both cloverleaf and Apple symbols on it.
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ipodrulz said 3:31AM on 1-03-2007
I call it the Dixie key.... you know the Company that makes those little cups that you would use at the dentsits, well they have the cmd sign as their logo....
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michel said 11:05AM on 1-01-2007
just "command".
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