The team that founded the Hydra Project met several times in the fall of 2008 at the University of Virginia. At their meeting in December of that year the name 'Hydra' was coined. Later that same day, a hydra toy was spotted, and subsequently purchased, in a local shop - this became part of the first design used on the project's documents and presentations.
The Hydra logo that was the branding for the Hydra Project throughout most of its existence under that name. It was dropped when the Community changed name to Samvera in order to avoid a trademark dispute.
Two or so years into the Hydra project, around 2010, an on-line demonstrator was produced for the emerging software. The product was called Hydrangea. It proved difficult to keep up to date at a time of rapid development and was soon dropped - but it was in use long enough to get its own logo.
For Hydra Connect 2016, the local organizers took the project's basic logo and extended it. It was used on large display screens adjacent to the conference's main auditorium.
Following the change of name from the Hydra Project to Samvera, the Steering Group commissioned a set of logo designs for the community. Of those submitted, the tree, in autumn colors, was the clear favorite. This logo went into use mid-2017. The Samvera logo is a registered trade mark in the USA and is the subject of trademark applications in Canada, the UK and the EU.