Canon Logo - Design and History

Canon is a world famous company, known to most consumers for their cameras. However the company is really a much bigger entity known for its office imaging products, computer peripherals etc. The current logo (shown on the left) consists of the text Canon in bright red.

In 1933, the original company Precision Optical Instruments lab, named their new camera Kwanon, after the Buddhist God of Mercy. The original logo shown below included the image of Kwanon with 1,000 arms and flames. Once the company found success and a world-wide market, they had to come up with a universally acceptable name. The name Canon was born in 1935 and was a perfect transition from Kwanon.