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Over the years, a number of iconic images have come to be associated with the Grateful Dead. Many of these images originated as artwork for concert posters or album covers.

• Lightning bolt skull: Perhaps the best known Grateful Dead art icon is a red, white, and blue skull with a lightning bolt through it. The lightning bolt skull can be found on the cover of the album Steal Your Face, and the image is sometimes known by that name. It was designed by Owsley “Bear” Stanley and artist Bob Thomas, and was originally used as a logo to mark the band’s equipment.^[56]

• Dancing bears: A series of stylized dancing bears was drawn by Bob Thomas as part of the back cover for the album History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear’s Choice).^[57] The bear is a reference to Owsley “Bear” Stanley, who recorded and produced the album. Bear himself wrote, “… the bears on the album cover are not really ‘dancing’. I don’t know why people think they are, their positions are quite obviously those of a high-stepping march.”^[58]

• Skull and roses: The skull and roses design was composed by Alton Kelley, who added color and lettering to a black and white drawing byEdmund Joseph Sullivan. Sullivan’s drawing was an illustration for a nineteenth century edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Kelly’s design originally appeared on a poster for a 1966 Dead show at the Avalon Ballroom. Later it was used as the cover for the album Grateful Dead. The album is sometimes referred to as Skull and Roses.^[59]

• Uncle Sam skeleton: The Uncle Sam skeleton was devised by Gary Gutierrez as part of the animation for The Grateful Dead Movie.^[60] The image combines the Grateful Dead skeleton motif with the character of Uncle Sam, a reference to the then-recently written song “U.S. Blues”, which the Dead are seen performing near the beginning of the film.

• Jester: Another icon of the Dead is a skeleton dressed as a jester and holding a lute. This image was an airbrush painting done by Stanley Mouse in 1972. It was originally used for the cover of The Grateful Dead Songbook.^[61][62]