The Flying EyeballĮgyptian imagery moves in and out of the Dead’s visual repertoire as fluidly and unpredictably as the band moves in and out of its setlist.

Even some fifty years after they were drawn by artist Bob Thomas, they march on as cheerful brand ambassadors. Whether they’re dancing or simply high stepping, these happy bears have endured as mascots of the Grateful Dead experience. The lightning bolt splitting the skull asunder is a nod to a higher level of consciousness and the possibility of enlightenment, whether chemically induced or achieved by natural methods. Its name comes from a line in “He’s Gone,” a song about drummer Mickey Hart’s father, the band’s avaricious former manager who disappeared after embezzling their profits. Like the Dancing Bears, this logo is also attributed to Owsley Stanley, who helped design the Stealie in the late ’60s. To the uninitiated, it’s just a red and blue skull you still see on bumper stickers and the occasional tattoo to everyone else, it’s the Steal Your Face. Here’s a guide to some of the Grateful Dead’s most durable visual identifiers. Which means you’ll continue to hear, and see the Dead’s unlikely brand extension far and wide, and not just on LeBron’s hoodie. Whether it’s merely the cycles of fashion (eventually even Jennifer Lopez gets around to wearing tie-dye) or the fact that the Grateful Dead have carried on with some youthful recent hires- guitarist John Mayer and bass player Oteil Burbridge-the band’s cultural currency is enjoying a second, okay, probably closer to fourth, wind.

So what dissonant cultural forces commingled to bring us LeBron in the Dancing Bears? Probably the same ones that put the Dancing Bears on a pair of Nike Air Force Ones this summer, and that encouraged the designer James Perse’s Grateful Dead-focused collection from last summer and inspired street photographer Mister Mort to publish this summer’s Dead Style. He was only ten years old when Jerry Garcia, the Dead’s creative lead and reluctant patriarch, died of an overdose, and his pregame setlist veers more toward Meek Mill and 2 Chainz than the masters of American psychedelia. None of which explains LeBron’s affinity to the Dead. The dancing bear icon first showed up as stickers slapped on Bear’s amplifiers and other sound equipment. The Bear in question was Owsley “Bear” Stanley, the architect of the Dead’s distinctive sound and a pioneer in the production and distribution of early LSD. They’ve been showing up on bootleg t-shirts, bumper stickers, and even headbands since they first appeared on the back cover of the forgettable 1973 album The History of the Grateful Dead, Vol. The Dancing Bears, as they’re commonly known, are a staple of the Grateful Dead’s visual identity.

Dancing bear gif grateful dead