Recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for having the oldest branding and packaging in the world, Lyle's Golden Syrup has been represented by an illustration of a golden lion lying down on its side for over fourteen decades since the 1880s.
However, that longstanding streak has recently ended as the UK staple has opted for a rebranding with a new "sleek" and contemporary-looking logo. As per the company's statement, this move was done to "refresh the brand's legacy to appeal to a 21st-century audience."
The History of Lyle's Golden Syrup Logo
First made by Abram Lyle & Sons in 1881, the Golden Syrup product is described as a delectable amber-hued syrup produced using refined sugar and just about any Brit would have trouble not recognizing its look and taste.
The company's Scottish founder and namesake, Abram Lyle, originally went for a logo design that gave a nod to the biblical story of Samson's encounter with a lion from the Old Testament. Specifically, the branding was modeled after the beast whose carcass was nestled by honeybees.
The tale was continued in the Book of Judges, chronicling how Samson ate the honey inside the lion, gave some to his parents, and some to thirty wedding guests, while performing a riddle referencing his showdown with the animal, saying, "Out of the eater came something to eat; out of the strong came something sweet."
A variation of this particular riddle is what Lyle's original branding featured in a black rim around the logo illustration, which read: "Out of the strong came forth sweetness."
However, since the change, the phrase that alluded to the biblical tale has since been removed in favor of a "cleaner" and more modern look.
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Lyle's Golden Syrup's New Look
The new logo features a more abstract version of the original illustration, which is reminiscent of branding design conventions of the recent decade.
In this new look, the lion is depicted the rounded "fluid-like" shapes, which is likely representing the syrup product itself. As for the bees that were integral to the reference that the original design made, only one remains in the new iteration.
Guinness World Records bestowed the title to the product in 2006, in light of its largely unchanged branding over the decades, that said, minuscule touch-ups were made along the way since 1885 due to the "shortages of materials" brought about by the war.
In 2008, another of these "small" changes was made, when then-owner Tate & Lyle decided to re-color the logo into tin marking its 125th anniversary. Other than that, the design remained practically the same, at least up until recently.
In the statement, Lyle's Golden Syrup Brand Director James Whiteley said that the change was bound to happen because "consumers need to see brands moving with the times and meeting their current need."
"Our fresh, contemporary design brings Lyle's into the modern day, appealing to the everyday British household while still feeling nostalgic and authentically Lyle's," he continued.
On the contrary, however, the redesign was met with mixed reactions from its consumers. One commenter on X (formerly Twitter) named Colin Freeman wrote in a post: "This is what happens when brand managers get involved: take a story that has survived 2000 years and 'refresh' it (i.e. ditch it)."
On Facebook, one user wrote: "World's longest unchanged brand. Now spoilt by this. End of an era. Oh dear."
