Learn Why The "A" In Chick-fil-A Is Capitalized

Chick-fil-A restaurants are popping up across the country as the fried chicken sandwich shop makes a bid to become one of the largest fast food chains in the country. Have you ever stopped to wonder why the "A" at the end of the name is capitalized? Turns out there's a very good reason.

While the capitalized A gives the chain's logo some nice symmetry, balancing out the profile of chicken that makes up part of the scripted name both of which help the restaurant signs stand out in a sea of other fast food establishments, neither of those are the reason that founder Truett Cathy opted to capitalize the A.

Back in 1967, when Cathy opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta's Greenbriar Shopping Center, he chose the name to give a hint of the "chicken fillet" that he sold inside. In fact, when the restaurant was first opened it was called Chick-Fill-a with a lowercase "a" and a slogan declaring it the "best thing that ever happened to chicken."

However, Cathy wanted to let customers know that his chicken sandwiches were made with the finest ingredients available. Instead of instructing his staff to tell customers the good news or simply putting up a sign in the restaurant that relayed the information to anyone who walked in the doors, Cathy figured out a clever way of spreading the word to anyone who saw his restaurant's sign. He realized he just needed to tweak the logo a little. According to Chick-fil-A's blog, The Chicken Wire, the "A" is now capitalized to represent the "grade A" top-quality chicken used in the chain's sandwich. While the A may be a bit of a mystery to modern customers, back when the restaurant opened and its now-famous Original Chicken Sandwich was created, people would have recognized the A for what it was—a sign of quality.

Now, the next time you're driving by a Chick-fil-A, which will probably be soon, you'll know why that "A" is capitalized.