People are just realizing why the ‘L’ in Google is green and not yellow

EVER noticed that all of the letters in the Google logo are a primary colour except for one? It’s no accident.

The Google logo was designed with that odd quirk for a very good reason.

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It’s one of the most recognisable logos in the world.

In fact you probably look at it multiple times every single day.

It’s mostly primary colours: two blue letters, two red, and one yellow.

But the “L” is green, which is not a primary colour.

That choice was made to show that Google thinks differently, and doesn’t necessarily stick to the rules.

“There were a lot of different colour iterations,” said graphic designer Ruth Cedar, who detailed the process in an interview with Wired more than two decades ago. 

“We ended up with the primary colours.

“But instead of having the pattern go in order, we put a secondary colour on the L, which brought back the idea that Google doesn’t follow the rules.”

It’s also said that Google originally encased its first ever server at Stanford University with Lego blocks – in blue, red and yellow.

In any case, the Google logo is one of the most recognisable on the entire planet.

There was an earlier version of the tech logo that had a different order of colours.

It used a green G and L, a red O and E, a yellow O, and a blue G.

And a very ugly first iteration used three red letters (G, O and E), a blue O, a green G and a yellow L.

Ultimately Google settled on the current colour arrangement and has maintained it for more than 20 years.

But can you remember the correct order without looking? Give it a go and see how you get on.

Why was the name Google chosen?

Google – which dates all the way back to 1996 – was originally called BackRub.

This was due to the fact that the system was designed to check for “backlinks”.

By counting the number of “backlinks” – links that directed to a website – it could estimate the importance of the page.

Ultimately the name was changed to Google.

It was a play on words linked to the mathematical term googol, which means a huge number (one followed by 100 zeroes).

This was supposed to represent how Google would handle enormous amounts of web data.

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