Visual identity · Identity and culture
Burning Man, the first Doodle
On August 30, 1998, before leaving for the Burning Man festival, Page and Brin placed the event's stick figure behind the second "o" of the logo. It was a notice that the team was away, and it became the first Google Doodle.
There is no official image with documented origin for this record yet. The museum prefers showing no image to using one of uncertain origin.
August 30, 1998
Burning Man Festival
Visual identity · Identity and culture · Replaced
History
The first Doodle did not celebrate a historic date: it was a practical message. According to Google, the founders preferred to play with the logo rather than post a dry absence notice, in case the site had problems while they were in the Nevada desert.
The drawing sits on the 1998 logo, still with the Yahoo!-inspired exclamation mark, and was published five days before the company was incorporated. The idea of changing the logo to mark events became one of Google's best-known traditions.
Dates
What the sources say
| Claim | Record | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | August 30, 1998 | 1 · Confirmed by independent sources | [1] primary[2] primary |
| Reason | To signal that the team was at the Burning Man festival Statement | 1 · Confirmed by independent sources | [1] primary[2] primary |
| Visual element | Burning Man figure behind the second "o" | 2 · Single primary source | [1] primary |
Names
- Burning Man Festival — official name
- Primeiro Google Doodle — period nickname
Historical captures
No archived capture has been located for this record yet.
Sources
- Burning Man Festival (Doodle of August 30, 1998) — Google Doodles. Source primary · accessed November 2, 2026 · look for a copy on the Internet Archive
- 7 Fun Facts über Google Doodles — Google Deutschland (blog oficial), August 30, 2023. Source primary · accessed November 2, 2026 · in German · look for a copy on the Internet Archive
What still needs documenting
- Doodle image with a documented basis for use (the logo is a trademark)
On GD
GD has followed Google since 2006. Search GD for “Burning Man Festival” (in Portuguese)
How to cite
"Burning Man, the first Doodle", Google Museum (GD), https://gd.eurisko.com.br/museu/en/collection/doodle-burning-man-1998/, CC BY 4.0. Reviewed on November 2, 2026.
ID: doodle-burning-man-1998 · Reviewed on November 2, 2026