The stars featured in the Paramount Pictures logo may be one of Hollywood’s most iconic, but they’ve actually had a hidden meaning over the years.
While it may not be as instantly recognizable as MGM’s Roaring Lion and Columbia’s Torch Lady, many die-hard movie fans will instantly recognize the Paramount stars, which were used for everything from Paramount Pictures to Paramount Plus and Paramount Television Studios.
However, eagle-eyed viewers may have also noticed that the number of stars has changed over the years. The logo evolved as recently as 2021 to accommodate Paramount’s streaming service, Paramount+.
Originally, it had as many as 24 stars, but that number changed over the years. When Paramount was founded in 1916, each was meant to represent one of the 24 stars under contract.
There have been over 150 contracted Paramount stars over the years, and it’s a real who’s who of talent. Huge names like Cecil B. DeMille, Bob Hope, Mae West, and The Marx Brothers were contract players for Paramount in those early names.
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However, the original 24-star meaning didn’t last for long. By 1967, the number of stars had dropped to 22, and the company dropped the idea of their hidden meaning.
The logo was reworked again for the launch of Paramount+, reducing the number of stars to 13. In practice, it’s so that one star can stand for each letter in the name Paramount Plus, but it also allowed them to be made bigger for phone screens.
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