The Three Eyed Smiling Face occurs repeatedly throughout Haring's work. It was created by accident, when Haring was painting a smiley face and left too much room between the eyes, so he simply added a third eye. The public interpreted this as a spiritual reference, and Haring simply went with it feeling its meaning, like his other iconic emblems, should remain ultimately open for interpretation. The Three Eyed Smiling Face has been described as a symbol for capitalism and consumerism (greed), gay pride, AIDS activism, hellishness, fear and death, youthful innocence, purity, and goodness.

Keith Haring (1958-1990) was an American artist whose pop art-like works grew out of the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980's. Haring created a signature visual style based on the primacy of the line, peopled with such animated imagery as dancing figures, radiant babies, barking dogs and flying saucers. Used to express universal concepts like birth, death, love, sex and war, Haring's works are widely embraced both for their visual immediacy as well as for their uncommon energy and optimism. Haring also turned to social activism and used his imagery to advocate safe sex and AIDS awareness.