A yellow background with black text across the middle of the smiley face. Black eyes and a squiggly mouth.

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

A smirk is considered a smug of condescending expression. Today, a squiggly smiley face is called the woozy face (U+1F974) which indicates that the person expressing this emoji feels tired and emotional. 

A yellow background with a yellow smiley face wearing a red firehat with a yellow W on the front.

Wal-mart has been using a smiley face to represent their brand since 1996 when they started to release a series of "Rollback" commercials using the yellow happy face in different costumes.

Walmart has thus gotten into law suit with SmileyWorld, a company in London who claims to have created the image in 1968. In 2005, Charles Smith, a man from Georgia, decided to launch a parody site Walocaust to protest the mega-store's business practices. In reaction, Wal-Mart asserted common law trademark rights in the “smiley face” design prominently displayed in Wal-Mart stores, but it eventually began to phase out smiley in its vests and website in 2006 due to the negative press Smith's campaign has aroused.

Yellow text on a black background

To smile is when the corners of a person's mouth turns upward, sometimes showing teeth, to express a happy or content feeling. Encouraging others to smile can often be a positive motivator.

A green background with dark blue text at the top of the image. At the bottom is a Mamiya EZ Quartz camera with a smiley face on the lens.

Mamiya Digital Imaging Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company founded in 1940 by camera designer Seiichi Mamiya and financial backer Tsunejiro Sugawara. Mamiya's headquarters are located in Tokyo, and the company employs over 200 people. Mamiya's last 35mm cameras produced were the Z-series cameras, including the Mamiya ZE, which was introduced in July, 1980. It was sometimes called the ZE Quartz because of its quartz-controlled focal-plane metal shutter. "Smile and say Mamiya" is a play on the saying, "Smile and say cheese", often used by people taking a picture of people. 

Traditional smiley face design in white on a bright pink background with white text around the outer edge

When Amtrak introduced its new TurboTrain in the 1970s, it was meant to update train travel with faster, more modern trains. It was dubbed "the train of the future", equipped with airplane-like gas turbine engines. Unfortunately, there were several problems with the operation of the trains, and they were very costly to maintain and operate. The TurboTrains were soon retired from the tracks in the 1980s. Amtrak often handed out promotional buttons and brochures on the TurboTrains first runs, with slogans like, "Smile a While on the TurboTrain" and, "We're Making the Trains Worth Traveling Again."

This button is a variation on the classic yellow smiley face that is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Traditional yellow smiley face design but with an upsidedown smile with tongue sticking out and black text under the face

This button is a variation on the classic yellow smiley face that is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

A traditional smiley face wearing a red and white Santa hat with a red circle around the outer edge. An orange ribbon with bell attached at the bottom.©

The is a Santa Clause variation of the classic yellow smiley face which which is is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions. 

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Traditional smiley face design with a red background

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Purple background with white smiley face.

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

White background with a thin red circle along outer edge. Blue text reading 'HAVE A NICE DAY' arching around the top of the button. Red smiley face is in the center with 'play world' in red text above the mouth.
 

Have a Nice Day is a colloquial expression when saying goodbye. It is often used in customer service in the USA with the consumer and the seller parting ways by telling each other to have a nice rest of their day. The first use of the phrase appeared in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in 1387. The phrase gained wider use in the 1920s and has continued on into present day. 

Play World is a company that makes playground equipment for children. Any equipment for children to play in is often referred to as a “play world.”

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.