Happy Birthday Vegemite – an Aussie Icon turns 100!
October 24, 2023
The newly-opened Cyril Callister museum in the small Victorian town of Beaufort commemorates the inventor of Vegemite.
Looking at the collected memorabilia—from an original 1923 jar, all the way through to the current model—those 3 simple branding elements are the same:
— Uppercase brand name in black letters
— Yellow background colour on the jar
— Red diamond shape behind the word ‘VEGEMITE’
In ‘Symbols of Australia’ by Mimmo Cozzolino and Fysh Rutherford, an advertisement features the dark amber-coloured jar used to package Vegemite in 1923 or 1924. It includes a diamond-shape on its label.
The museum has a small 1950s-era jar which originally contained Vegemite — given to new mothers at the Tweddle Hospital for Babies in Footscray. The label is ripped and faded, but but that familiar shape is still there.
How many other Australian Brands have retained the same elements for 100 years?
Let’s say Happy Birthday to an iconic black spread—Vegemite! 
* Bega owns the trademark, hence it’s not *officially* the Vegemite museum
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