Origin and meaning of the winged eyeball?

[11811]

Where does it come from, and what does it mean?

I gather it’s some beatnik thing and that the meaning is kind of nebulously mystical. Is there anything more?

[DrFidelius]

Which winged eyeball?

[griffin1977]

@11811

Where does it come from, and what does it mean?

I beleive it was a peice of Phsycadelic artwork designed by Rick Griffin in the 1960s and used extensively in music posters and flyers.

For a mere seven grand you can pick yourself up a signed copy of one the originals…

http://marketplaceadvisor.channeladvisor.com/storefrontprofiles/processfeed.aspx?sfid=77432&i=14293846&mpid=4063&dfid=1

[HMS_Irruncible]

@11811

Where does it come from, and what does it mean?

I gather it’s some beatnik thing and that the meaning is kind of nebulously mystical. Is there anything more?

I would have had no idea what you were talking about except I recalled from high school days that “flying eyeball” from high school days was one of the rumored types of blotter acid, along with “window pane” and “blue star”. These were as often mentioned as being excellent quality acid as they were mentioned in fax-lore scare stories of it being slipped to first-graders by nefarious hippie teachers. (None has ever actually turned up anywhere, as far as I know).

On the factual side, this prompted me to do a web search on “flying eyeball”, and I came up with this website which claims that the “Flying Eyeball” logo was the product of one Von Dutch, a semi-notable purveyor of auto and motorcycle customizations as well as biker-wear. Quote from the first website:

No discussion of Von Dutch would be complete without touching on the subject of his famous Flying Eyeball logo. What’s the story behind it?

According to Von Dutch, the flying eyeball originated with the Macedonian and Egyptian cultures about 5000 years ago. It was a symbol meaning “the eye in the sky knows all and sees all”, or something like that. Dutch got a hold of this symbol and modified it into the flyin’eyeball we know of today. He always believed in reincarnation, and the eyeball, somehow, was tied to that.There have been numerous “incarnations” of this design over the years. It still remains an icon of the '50s and '60s street rod crowd. Now ya know!

So now ya know.

[Stan_Doubt]

I think Griffin got it from hot rod artist and pinstriper Von Dutch. The Von Dutch design is the most familiar one to me.

From pg. 88 of Kustom Kulture , Griffin saw a car with a Von Dutch eyeball painted on it in 1968.