finally, the mysterious Starbucks logo explained.

I could never figure out what the Starbucks logo was. If she's a mermaid, why does it look like she's holding two fish she caught by their tails? Turns out, mermaids use to be depicted with two tails in place of their legs.

How the Starbucks Siren Became Less Naughty

The whole sex-symbol status of mermaids hinges on the question which part is 'woman' - upper or lower. 'The other type of mermaid' that hapless Fry was referring to would have problems attracting suitors, of course. And how do you do it with the normal type?

Wise mythologists came up with the answer, of course. And the answer is a two-tailed mermaid sometimes called a Melusine.

The book had an old engraving of a two-tailed mermaid. It reminded me of the Starbucks Siren, but back then I did not realize that the original Starbucks logo had a slightly altered version of that engraving in the original brown cigar band-shaped logo.
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The next, more familiar green iteration of the logo has a more attractive stylized siren. The chest is hidden, but the belly button is still there.
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...the current logo.... cropped the siren image so that only a hint of the tails is visible. I asked hourly partners at Starbucks and friends, and none of them could figure out what those things to the side of Siren's head were.

So really the Starbucks mermaid is holding her tails/legs wide open, giving everyone a nice view of her snatch!