"The labels changed.
The star never did.
This is how it happened."
From the first hand-drawn label of 1873 to the campaigns that made the green bottle the most recognised beer in the world — The Legacy documents the visual and cultural evolution of the Heineken brand across 160 years.
The Label Journey
A bottle is just glass until someone puts a story on it. Trace the evolution of the Heineken label from the first hand-lettered designs of the 1870s through the iconic smiling 'e', the red star, and every redesign that kept the brand relevant across 15 decades.
Explore the labels 1932 — present (first known marked glass)The Glassware Timeline
The glass is part of the experience. From hand-marked glasses documented from 1932 onwards to the perfectly engineered modern pilsner glass — every shape was designed to tell a story. Discover how the vessel itself became part of the Heineken identity.
Explore the glassware 1949 — presentThe Campaign Evolution
From the first confirmed (shared) beer campaign in 1949 to the global "Open Your World" campaigns that redefined beer advertising — Heineken has always understood that great beer needs a great story. Follow the campaigns that built the brand.
Explore the campaigns 1864 — presentThe Volume Pulse
Numbers tell their own story. From a few thousand hectolitres brewed in Amsterdam in 1873 to over 200 million hectolitres produced globally today — the Volume Pulse charts the extraordinary growth of an empire measured in barrels, bottles and billions of glasses.
Explore the growth"A green bottle is just glass until you put a soul behind it. These are the symbols, stories and campaigns that gave Heineken its soul."
— famvandermeer.com160 years of visual identity.
Documented by a collector.
The Legacy section documents the brand's visual and cultural evolution — labels, glassware, campaigns and growth data — researched from primary sources including the official Heineken Collection Foundation, the Amsterdam City Archive, and the Heineken corporate books.
Every timeline entry is dated and sourced. Where the exact year is uncertain, it is flagged. The story is never invented.
— Dennis van der Meer, famvandermeer.com