History of the Apple Command Key “Pretzel”

The pretzel like symbol on your Apple device command key is taken from a Swedish road sign used to indicate tourist attractions. Steve Jobs had a hand in creating the abstruse symbol that originated from Susan Kare’s search for a design element to be added to the command key for Apple.

The shape itself goes by several different names including the Gorgon loop and Saint John’s Arms has come to symbolize many things over the past 2,600 years or so, but it didn’t become an icon part of computing culture until 1984.