Freddie Mercury | Ink drawings for the Queen Crest, c.1972

Freddie Mercury

Pen and ink drawings for the Queen Crest

including a finished version of the full design, and eight further drawings of fairies and other details, on 9 leaves of tracing paper, together with two prints of the crest in gold ink on black card, various sizes (from 163 x 200mm to 127 x 115mm), all together in an envelope (labelled "Sketches for Queen Crest"), c.1972

FREDDIE MERCURY'S ORIGINAL ARTWORK FOR THE QUEEN CREST. Freddie Mercury originally designed a band logo for use on the artwork for their debut album, where it appears on the back cover. The crest resembles a heraldic coat of arms - giving it a suitably regal aura - and incorporates the zodiac signs of the band members: fairies for Virgo (Mercury), lions for Leo (Deacon and Taylor) and a crab for Cancer (May). At its centre is a crown in a Q, and the device is surmounted by a phoenix. The crest has now been a central part of Queen's visual iconography for fifty years.

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song lyrics, sketches, drawings and garment designs). Queen Productions Limited, Queen

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