Becherovka

Becherovka - the secret of the red seal

The red seal which dominates the new Becherovka packaging is probably of very old origin. The secret of this symbol has not yet been revealed. Not because the producer is hesitant to disclose it, but because historians and experts on heraldry are not quite sure on how to solve its riddle either.

In the past, houses, families, products and goods were designated by house or business symbols, brand names or crests. These were used in our region from the beginning of the 14th century to the beginning of the 19th century. It has not been proven whether houses were marked first and then the signs were transferred to products, or the other way round. The crests were bourgeois signs; in an effort to imitate the nobility's coats of arms they were placed in shields, decorated and developed – in other words, they became more and more heraldic. From the beginning of the 19th century, these crests became more esthetic and became one of the sources for the so-called trademarks which originated as a legal measure at that time.

The number four in the Becherovka trademark symbolizes Mercury's staff. It is a stylized caduceus, originally a staff with two serpents and an open number eight at the top. Compared to the number three, in the Middle Ages the number four was considered more profane and people-oriented. The number four appears very often in crests and was popular in merchant's families, in particular in the first half of the 17th century and in the first half of the 18th century. As part of the crest, the number four was complemented with other shapes, usually with the merchant's initials. Especially in the 18th century, another line crossing the number's leg was very frequent. The loops and other rounded shapes in the Becherovka symbol indicate that the sign was not carved but rather painted or distributed in another way. Little beaks at the ends of horizontal lines also indicate an 18th-century style. Of course, it is impossible to say whether the sign is older and whether it was not just made more esthetic at that time. Because the number four has no other added or expanded lines, it may be assumed that it came from a direct family line because the sign was probably inherited without changes by first-born sons. This is about all we can read from the sign on the Becherovka label without crossing the border into the occult.

Source: Mgr. Lucie Holá, State Heritage Institute, Prague