RC Cola
It's from 1905, before you were born.
- Maker
- Keurig Dr Pepper
- Type
- Cola soft drink
- Debuted
- 1905
- Note
- the "third cola"
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About
As of 2026, it's 121 years old.
RC Cola is the eternal third-place cola, and it has worn that bronze medal with quiet dignity since the early 1900s. Forever overshadowed by the two giants, it nonetheless got there first on the things that mattered: it pioneered canned cola and diet soda while the big names were still arguing.
Especially beloved across the South, it's the value-priced underdog famous for the classic pairing of 'an RC and a MoonPie' — a combo that is basically a Southern handshake.
Cheap, cheerful, and perpetually underestimated, RC Cola is the cola that proves there's honor in third place.
RC Cola through the years
Born from a grocer's drinks
Claud Hatcher begins making soft drinks in Columbus, Georgia.
Royal Crown Cola is established
RC grows into the scrappy third name in cola.
A canning and diet pioneer
RC is first to sell cola in a can and later pioneers diet soda.
