As in most countries of the world, political parties in the United States are groups of citizens organized around specific views on how the country should be governed. Party structures work to ensure that their candidates are elected to leading public office.
There are currently two major political parties in the United States. The Democratic Party traces its lineage back to a party organization founded in 1828 by Thomas Jefferson and his associates. The Republican Party emerged in 1854, mainly in the western and northern states, whose residents were active in calling on the government to limit the penetration of slavery into all the new states entering the union.
The two major political parties in the United States have their own recognizable, albeit unofficial, symbols. The unofficial symbol of the Democratic Party is a donkey, which shows stubbornness in overcoming obstacles. The unofficial color of the Democrats is blue. Members of the Republican Party have recognized the elephant showing power as their unofficial symbol. The unofficial color used is red.
In addition to the two major parties, there are other political parties in the United States, although none of them enjoys enough support to win a presidential election. However, these parties also have their own symbols and logos.
It is about the logos of political parties in the United States that we want to talk about in this article because the Logo represents the ideology of a political party in the form of illustrations, shows its mission, and helps to build the necessary image of the candidate. Logo helps to present the idea and goals of a political party, emphasize its priorities, and create a certain image in the eyes of citizens.
The dominance of the Democratic and Republican parties in American politics is historical and for more than 200 years they have played a dominant role in the American political system.
The Democratic and Republican parties of the United States have logos, which, by and large, have no meaning, but are perfectly accepted by the electorate, as they have a long history and tradition.
The historical emblem of the Democrats is a donkey painted in the colors of the American flag. Democrats first depicted this animal – as a symbol of stubbornness in defending Democratic views – on advertising posters in 1828, when the party’s founder, Andrew Jackson, was running for president. When the party’s founder, Andrew Jackson, ran for president. His opponents called him a donkey because he believed that the country should be governed by the American people, not the elite.
In 1870, the donkey appeared on the pages of Harper’s Weekly magazine in the drawing “A Donkey Kicking a Dead Lion” by cartoonist Thomas Nast. The artist’s attempt to ridicule the party did not surprise, and the Democrats decided to make the donkey their symbol.
The emblem of the Republican Party, the elephant, was also taken from Nast’s cartoon published in Harper’s Weekly. However, a little later – on November 7, 1874. It symbolizes the party’s commitment to conservative views. The association with this animal came from the party’s enormous influence during the Civil War.
The image appeared in one of the newspapers, and on it, the elephant carried a banner and foreshadowed the imminent victory of Lincoln’s supporters. This time the artist depicted an elephant scared to death of a “democratic” donkey in a lion’s skin.
In addition to the Democrats and Republicans, there are several other parties in the United States. They are called the Third Parties. Among them are the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, and the Constitution Party. They are considered to be young associations since they appeared at the end of the last century.
They nominate their candidates for elections at all levels, including presidential elections, but they receive an insignificant number of votes – no more than 1-2%. Theodore Roosevelt was an exception. In 1912, he ran for the Progressive Party. At that time, 27% of voters voted for him, which ensured him second place and allowed him to surpass the representative of the Republicans. No one else has managed to achieve such success.
For many years the US Libertarian Political Party has been using the Statue of Liberty as its symbol, executed mainly in a gold and blue color palette. The medallion with the depiction of this symbol is still in use by the party today, in addition to the official logo, where the clean and confident “Libertarian” lettering is accompanied by an emblem depicting a torch, with the yellow flame stylized as an eagle.
The visual identity of the Green Party is based on the brightness of the color, which perfectly represents the philosophy and aims of the political issue. The emblem, depicting the Planet Earth stylized as a flower, is a very memorable symbol, which is beautifully accompanied by elegant serif lettering in two shades of green. The secondary logo of the party is more minimalistic and bold — with the solid green rhombus and rounded sans-serif lettering in gray.
The logo of the US Constitution Party uses a stylized image of one of the main American symbols, an Eagle. The bird is drawn in a modern minimalistic style, with the solid head in profile set above the three sleek stripes in red, and accompanied by three solid blue five-pointed stars. All the most patriotic elements are there. The secondary version of the logo depicts a more detailed and realistic eagle in blue, set on the left from bold blue and red serif lettering.
The visual identity of the Working Families Party is based on a super cool color combination — calm yet intense orange and bright purple, which, depending on the placement can be extended with yellow or black. The primary version of the logo is a narrowed geometric sans-serif lettering in the uppercase, decorated by three eight-pointed stars. The secondary badge, which is also the party’s icon, is a purple WFP abbreviation, set against a solid orange aground, with the yellow stars supporting each of the letters.
The logo of the Reform Party of the United States of America is all about traditions and heritage. The party uses an image of a bald eagle as the main element of its graphical emblem. The head of the bird is drawn in white and gray, turned to the right, and set on a circular background with a pattern, repeating the national flag of the United States. The two red and two white stripes on the image are drawn in waves and set slightly diagonally, in the upright direction.
Apart from the two main and the Third Parties, the US Political system also welcomes the regional representatives, allowing everyone. The list of Regional and Minor Parties also has very interesting examples of visual identity designs.
The visual identity of the Alaskan Independence Party is like a frame from a high-quality animation for the whole family. The badge is based on a depiction of a white polar bear, drawn in white, gray, and blue gradients, walking on the snow with a dark blue background and a sky full of stars. But one star here is more important than others. The enlarged Polar Star, drawn right above the head of the bear, is like a symbol of direction, showing the path to progress and evolution.
The logo of the Vermont Progressive Party is based on the two symbols of the state, the Hermit Thrush bird, and the Deer. The primary version of the logo depicts a white silhouette of a deer drawn on a solid calm-red roundel, with a small bird sitting on the tip of its antler. The medallion is outlined in white and blue and accompanied by a blue uppercase lettering with the name of the party. The secondary version of the party’s logo is a bold rounded serif letter “P” with the Hermit Thrush bird sitting on the top of its vertical bar.
Another party, that uses a drawing of a bald eagle for its visual identity is the Independence Party of New York. The eagle here is drawn flying with its wings spread diagonally relative to the enlarged contoured “I” in the background. The white and blue character is drawn in a geometric serif typeface, and evokes a sense of stability and confidence, while the flying bird with the striped and started patterns in red, white, and blue, symbolizes freedom.
Of course, the United States of America is not a country, that was born yesterday, and neither was its political system. Hence, it’s only logical, that there were also historical political parties, which didn’t last long and haven’t managed to stay active by today, however, there are some parties, which boasted quite interesting logos, and we are going to look at them below.
The logo of the historical Whig Party was drawn in a very detailed manner with great attention to detail. The gray-to-black graphical emblem of the party depicted an eagle with its wings widely spread to the sides. In its beak, the bird was holding two long waving ribbons, where the motto of the party, “Whigs to the Rescue” was written in a bold elegant serif typeface.
The Federalist Party was the first political party in the United States of America, hence we can not underestimate its influence on the whole political system of the country. However, its logo was quite simple (of course, what can we wait for from the political design at the end of the 18th century?). It was a wheel, drawn in black and white, with the wavy edges. The central circle was solid black, making up an image, resembling a target.
Another historical party of the USA is the Democratic-Republican Party, which was established in 1792, right after the Federalist Party. They have taken the design of its competitors as the basis but added bright colors to it. The Democratic-Republican logo depicted the same “wheel” but with the central part colored in solid blue, and the framing — in bright red.