Python for Windows bytecode icon used until it was revised in 2002.
Mark Hammond
BSD
Was added to the Python source tree shortly after the 1.5b1 release in <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/f11d0240e37749f6278b7f7763364f1c90d3bcdc">this commit</a>, and first appeared in the main Python package in the 1.5b2 release. The <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/d0d0154443cafb2f0a2cdfb6a1267d80cce8388e/Misc/HISTORY">HISTORY file</a>'s entry for Python 1.5b2 describes this change as follows (referring to <code>pycon.ico</code>, although <code>py.ico</code> and the original <code>pyc.ico</code> have the same origin, were added at the same time, and are closely related): <blockquote>
<p>Also, both python.exe and pythonw.exe now have a pretty icon (a green snake in a box, courtesy Mark Hammond).
</p>
</blockquote>
Prior to which, Hammond's PythonWin package had already been using the icon set. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://legacy.python.org/download/releases/binaries-1.3/pythonwin.zip">PythonWin for Python 1.3</a> (readme dated May 1996) was a single package shipping the PythonWin IDE with a Windows port of Python, and might have been the first Python for Windows distribution; its <code>pythonwi.exe</code> includes icons matching <code>py.ico</code> (1, 3) and <code>pycon.ico</code> (4) as icon resources, as well as including <code>pycon.ico</code> as a standalone file. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/19980526010423/http://www.python.org/windows/pythonwin/pywin.exe">PythonWin for Python 1.4</a>, distributed as an add-on package for the (now separated out) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/19980526010423/http://www.python.org/windows/pywin14.html">Python 1.4 Windows distribution</a>, added a sixth icon resource to <code>PYTHONWIN.EXE</code>, matching the original <code>pyc.ico</code>. All three original icons can still be found in <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://github.com/mhammond/pywin32/tree/main/Pythonwin/res">Hammond's PyWin32 repo</a> (<code>IDR_MAIN.ICO</code> and <code>IDR_PYTH.ICO</code> match <code>py.ico</code>). Hammond would later <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/362ed3451e1f95bcc327f4ed0f484d37363bfe5f">push a revised <code>pyc.ico</code></a> to the Python repo (not the PyWin32 repo) in 2002; see <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Python_Windows_bytecode_icon_2002%E2%80%932006.png" title="File:Python Windows bytecode icon 2002–2006.png">File:Python Windows bytecode icon 2002–2006.png</a>.