As our Capital Campaign swung into high gear in June, 1996, we unveiled an interim logo that used subtle subtle graphics to refer to many aspects of our region's history.

Designed by Caesar Siclare, of C+S Siclare Advertising in Cleveland, the logo represents the influence the region’s inhabitants have had on the land from prehistoric times to Cherokee days to the present. Woven into the design are key elements in the region’s story. For example, the silhouette of the Indian and the officer, taken together, form both an arrowhead and the outline of a Cherokee log house. The house shape also represents the area’s settlement by non-native people.

The triangle structure at the top represents many different things.
Mr. Siclare interpreted it as:

• The mountains that help define our region
• Feathers in the Indian’s headdress
• Plumes on the Army officer’s hat
• Tracks of the railroads that played such a pivotal role in our development
• Furrows of the agriculture on which we still rely so heavily.

Stripes on the Indian’s face represent both ceremonial paint and tear-stains from the Trail of Tears. The wavy line separating the two faces can be seen as a river flowing from the mountains and as a rattlesnake, which figured prominently in Cherokee myth. Can you see the rattles over the Indian’s eyes?

Those three dots also represent headdress beads, and the Cherokee’s journey down the river during the Trail. At the end of the river -- toward the right edge -- are the officer’s stars and bars, signifying the transference of control of the land to whites.