Invention of the Smiley Face by Harvey Ball

The smiley face represents the American spirit of friendship, happiness and peace. The smiley face was created in 1963 by an American commercial artist named Harvey Ball. Ball was asked to come up with a symbol for an insurance company to use.

The company wanted employees to feel cheerful about working for the company when they saw smiley face, in order to help ease the acrimonious aftermath following the merger of two insurance companies. B

all drew something very simple and made the background yellow because it reminded him of the sun. In 1970 Bernard and Murray Spain added the words ‘Have a nice day,’ to the smiley face.

By 1971 at its peak of popularity, more than 50 million smiley face button were sold.

The Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation was established in 2001 to honor the name and memory of Harvey Ball. The first day in Oct each year is celebrated as World Smile Day with theme for the day is ‘Do an act of kindness, Help one person smile’.

Although Harvey Ball never wished to profit from the smiley face, the symbol still became a marketable fad in the United States, appearing on clothes, mugs and all kinds of merchandise.
Invention of the Smiley Face by Harvey Ball