- Brands are one of the most interesting tools used by livestock people. Each brand is by necessity different than all the others and often conveys the character of the owner.
- Choose as simple a brand as possible.
- Apply the brand properly.
- Brands have a language all their own. That language, like any other, follows certain rules. The ability to read these symbols is referred to as "callin' the brand."
Friday, November 23, 2007
a little branding history
I saw this sign at the Fort Worth Stockyards last weekend. Cowboys were the first branders:
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Actually, pirates were the first real branders (i.e. simple graphics used to evoke emotion). Their flags were designed to contaminate the minds of their soon-to-be victims with fear and dread. This was psychological warfare.
Typically we think of a pirate flag as a black flag with skull and cross bones, but in truth, real pirates used a variety of symbols to evoke fear. The symbols were often associated with the repurations of the captain: the hour glass (swiftness in battle and death), a full body skeleton holding a sword (representing a partnership with death himself), a person standing on skulls (representing a history of a killing), a pierced heart (speaks to a merciless death), heart with drops of blood (represent a long, drawn out death) and so on.
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