Grand Theft Auto V’s Logo Has Some Real History

And I don’t mean the iconic “Price is Right” font. I mean the way the latest game in the series, Grand Theft Auto V, has a rather interesting employment of antique US currency.

As spotted by a Reddit user, the “FIVE” at the end of the game’s logo is lifted almost directly from an old Silver Certificate, a type of paper currency used in the US between 1878 and 1964 (and which, if you can still find a note, technically remains legal tender).

In particular, it’s from the design of an 1899 note featuring Running Antelope, an American Indian commemorated for his belief in a compromise with the encroaching United States rather than war.

What does this mean? Nothing! Everything! The particularly mad among you will take either the Indian or 1899 angle and run with it, but I think it’s just a neat way of tying US currency (always at the heart of a GTA game) to the franchise’s use of Roman numerals in its logos: by the early 20th century, US paper currency would be using “5” instead of “V”, and “5” just wouldn’t cut it on a Grand Theft Auto box!


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