The image of the animal was inspired by a drawing on the cover of Columbia’s student magazine, the name of the university’s sports teams, and their song Roar, Lion, Roar.
On the left was the word “TRADE,” and on the right was “MARK.” At the top of the circle was the inscription “ARS GRATIA ARTIS.” As the author of the design and advertising expert Howard Dietz admitted, this profound Latin phrase was a favorite phrase of a linguistics professor he knew. The loose edges of the tape dangled down the sides. It contained a lion’s head placed in a ring of film diafilm. The original version was created in 1916.
It was the one that served as the basis for the modern studio’s logo. Only Goldwyn Pictures Corporation had a distinctive symbol of the three companies that became part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
