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Subaru Logo - Design and History

Subaru Logo

Subaru is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries Co., Ltd (FHI). FHI was established on July 15, 1953 when five Japanese companies, known as Fuji Kogyo, Fuji Jidosha Kogyo, Omiya Fuji Kogyo, Utsunomiya Sharyo and Tokyo Fuji Sangyo, joined to form one of Japan's largest manufacturers of transportation equipment. Subaru is known mainly for its all-wheel drive vehicles such as the Subaru Forester and the Outback. 


The company is influenced by the star cluster Pleiades. In Japanese the cluster name is "Subaru", which roughly translated into English means, "to govern", "unite," or "gather together".  The large star in the logo represents Fuji Heavy Industries, and the five smaller stars represent the current five companies that are united under the FHI group. In essense the logo represent the unification of 5 companies mentioned above to become one large entity called the Fuji Heavy Industry. 

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Vauxhall Logo - Design and History

Vauxhall Logo Design and History

Vauxhall Motors is a British automobile company. It is a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation (GM), and is part of GM Europe. Alexander Wilson founded the company in Vauxhall, London in 1857. Originally named Alex Wilson and Company, then Vauxhall Iron Works, the company built pumps and marine engines.In 1903, the company built its first car, a five-horsepower model steered using a tiller, with two forward gears and no reverse gear. This led to a better design which was made available for sale.

The Vauxhall logo is based on a mythical creature called the "Griffin". The griffin is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and often wings of an eagle. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Griffins are normally known for guarding treasure. In antiquity it was a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine.

The griffin emblem, which is still in use, is derived from the coat of arms of Faulke de Breaute, a mercenary soldier who was granted the Manor of Luton for services to King John in the thirteenth century. By marriage, he also gained the rights to an area near London, south of the Thames. The house he built, Fulk's Hall, became known in time as Vauxhall. Vauxhall Iron Works adopted this emblem from the coat of arms to emphasise its links to the local area. When Vauxhall Iron Works moved to Luton in 1905, the griffin emblem coincidentally returned to its ancestral home.

The logo as pictured used to be square, but it is now circular, to enable it to fit in the same recess designed for the circular Opel emblem. Since the 1920s the griffin has been redesigned and released 9 times (see below for the detailed changes). In 2008 Vauxhall released a revised version of the 2005 logo. Bill Parfitt, Vauxhall€™s Managing Director, said, "While the new-look Griffin pays homage to our 100 year-plus manufacturing heritage in the UK, it also encapsulates Vauxhall€™s fresh design philosophy, first showcased in the current Astra, and set to continue with Insignia."

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Technology Logo Parody

Today Technology companies are the biggest in the world with companies like Google, Microsoft and Cisco household names. This page has a collection of the parodies of some of the popular technology companies. 

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AOL Logo Parody


AOL Logo Parody

AOL, America Online was once a powerhouse in providing users with dialup access to the Internet. At one point it had over 30 millions subscribers. In its prime, AOL was always associated with poor services and poor customer service. With the advent of broadband services, AOL is only a shadow of its former self. 

Shown alongside is a parody of the AOL logo. This logo was taken with permission from Syndicated Designs. 

 

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Wells Fargo Logo Parody

Wells Fargo Logo Parody



Wells Fargo is one of the largest banks in the United States. Shown above is a parody of the Wells Fargo logo.

This logo was taken with permission from Syndicated Designs. 

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Best Buy Logo Parody

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In 2008, there was a major economic crisis with many companies facing bankruptcy or facing severe financial issues. Some designers came up with funny versions of the the popular brands and logos. This is the parody of popular electronics Best Buy.

 

 

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Cricket is a popular sport in the Commonwealth countries and fans in countries like India are very passionate about the sport. This section of the website will attempt to document and describe the design and origins of cricket logos. If you have any additional information about cricket logos,  please send me the information.


The end of the last century resulted in a lot of Internet companies (also called dot-com companies) coming up in the limelight and today are very serious business. Companies such as Amazon.com, Buy.com and EBay come to mind. This section highlights the discusses the origins of these logos. If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.



The Open Source movement has really moved along in the last decade and a lot of products, software etc are now part of our everyday life. I think there is hardly a day when I don't find myself Wikipedia. This section discusses the origin of logos of some of the Open Source tools and technologies. If you have a recommendation for a logo, please send me a note. 



This category of the website contains the design and history of Major League Baseball (MLB) logos. MLB is the biggest baseball league in the United States.  If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.


This category of the site discusses the design and origins of some of the famous logos. Some of the logos are discussed in specialized categories on this site. If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.


Political Parties have very interesting logos and backgrounds behind them. This category of the History of Logos section discusses the history, design and origins of political logos. If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.





The Olympics are considered to be the greatest sports show on earth held once every 4 years. This section of the website uncovers the design and history of some of Olympic logos.







This category contains information about the design and history of large corporations around the globe. Most of the large corporations will typically be Fortune 500 companies and whose logos did not fit into any one of the other categories defined on this site.





Companies, brand and logos are born everyday but every so often, very famous logos and brands die for various reasons. In 2008 and 2009, with the global economic turmoil, many long standing companies met their end and with them died their logos. Many times, companies change their logos to re-brand their product. This category lists some of the popular logos that met their end.






Technology is at the heart of everything we do. In today's environment, some of the emerging technologies have their own logo which typically has a deeper history and meaning behind it. This section of the website tries to discover the meaning behind these logos. If you have any information about the history of some airline logos, please contact me.



NFL is arguably the most popular sport in the United States. Each team has a rich history behind its logo especially some of the old teams. This section of the site tries to document the origins of the logos such as the Chicago Bears Logo, the Pittsburgh Steelers Logo and the SuperBowl Logos etc. I hope you find this category of the site useful. If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.




 

Companies come up with great logos, but there is always someone out there who can make fun of it. While I love figuring out the history of these logos, I also love the logo parodies. This section of the website looks at some parodies of famous company logos.

A lot of creative people have come up with parodies of some of the famous companies and this category of the site is a collection of those parody logos. I don't claim ownership of creating these logos. I just collected these from the Net and hopefully you will find this collection useful.

Please let me know if you have any more such parodies and I will add them to the collection.  If you think that this is your copyright, I will gladly remove it from my site or provide a reference. Enjoy!


What makes a brand great? There is no easy answer for it. However, companies around the world spend millions and millions of dollars every year trying to get to the top or retain their position in the branding race. Although, I do not work in advertising and marketing, I have been very fascinated by the design of corporate logos and while some are just plain and boring, some have a very long history behind the logo. This section of the website attempts to document the history of some of the world's most recognized brands.  You can select from one of the categories below.

Airline Logos Beer Logos Car Logos Clothing Logos
Comic Book Logos Football Logos Hotel Logos IT Logos
Logo Parodies Miscellaneous Logos MLB Logos Monument Logos
Movie Studio Logos NBA Logos NFL Logos Non Profit Organization Logos
Open Source Logos Political Logos Restaurant Logos Rock Band Logos
Sports Logos Technology Logos World Famous Logos

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According a 2007 Business Week survey, the top 10 brands are listed below

1. Coca-Cola
2. Microsoft
3. IBM
4. General Electric (GE)
5. Nokia
6. Toyota
7. Intel
8. McDonalds
9. Disney
10. Mercedes-Benz

Please visit the main History of Logos page to see the history of over 150 logos.

 

The logos listed here are ones that I have been unable to categorize but found them to be interesting nonetheless. Eventually these logos will get a category. If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.



I am big sports fan. Its not like I remember every sports stat or remember every game, but I do like to watch sports on the TV and the NBA is one of my favourite league to watch. This section of the website contains the design and history of the NBA teams such as the Lakers, Spurs, Pistons and all the NBA teams. 

The fabled Jerry West, otherwise known as "Mr.Clutch," is the player in profile on the official NBA logo. As his biography on NBA.com points out, "West is widely regarded as one of the greatest guards in the history of the game. Not especially gifted by height or athleticism, he was a notoriously driven player who broke his nose nine times and often had to be carried off the court. "

I hope you find this section of the site entertaining.  If you have some information about NBA logos you would like to share, please send the information. Some of the information and logos were used from Chris Cramer's Sport Logo  page.




Bere is argaubly one of teh msot poupular alocoholic bevreages on the palnet. All aruond teh wolrd, teh bgi and smlal bere manuafcturers aer competing to build the brands in the market place. This section of the website aims to describe the history and meaning behind some of the most popular beer logos in the world. I may not have the history and meaning behind all the logos, but I will be attempting to researching and adding that information in on a regular basis.



People love to eat out these days. Have you ever looked at a restaurant logo and wondered about that logos origins. If you have not, maybe its time you did. This category contains the design and history of restaurant logos. If you would like me to include a logo, please send me a note.  






Clothing brands are a status symbol today. Most clothing companies such as Gap, Calvin Klein etc make the most of putting their logos on any clothing item that they make. Think of all the free advertising you are doing for them. This section describes the origins of some of the popular clothing logos. If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.






Football is by far the most popular sport in the world, except in the United States where they refer to football as Soccer. People around the world are passionate not only about their own countries, they are at times more passionate about their local clubs. Some football clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal and their players are household names around the world. This category of the website lists the logos of some of the popular Football logos from various leagues around the world including the American version of Football, the NFL.  If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.

Major League Soccer - MLS
National Football League - NFL


A lot of the non-profit organizations have some very interesting logos. This category of the website will examine the history, orgins and design of some of the famous non-profit organizations such as Green Peace, Austism Speaks etc. If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.



I work as a Software Engineer and so obviously IT logos are part of my everyday job. The history behind some of the logos is very rich and interesting like the IBM logo which has gone through changes over the years before settling down on the current logo. The design of the Sun Microsystems logo is something I find very simple, yet brilliant. This section of the websites covers the design and history of some of the most recognized logos in the IT industry. I hope you find this section useful.


This section contains details of the design and history of some of the popular hotel logos.  If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.


More and more airports around the world are rebranding and positioning themselves as businesses or corporations. This section contains details of the design and history of some of the popular airport logos. If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.




Most people are fascinated by fast moving cars and want to own these cars. This section of the website covers the design and history of some of the most famous car logos such as the Ferrari Logo, the Lamborghini logo and the common logos such as  the Toyota Logo and the Ford logo.  I hope you find this section of the website informative. If you have a recommendation for a logo, please send me a note. 

 

There are over 1500 airlines in the world today and while its hard to list the history of each airlines, I will attempt to uncover the history and meaning of some of the most well known airlines in the world in this section of the history of logos.  I do not wish to make this section into a laundry list of logos with no information. I hope to have articles here that have some real content. If you have any information about the history of some airline logos, please contact me.

 

 

A lot of monuments and other tourist attractions have become mini corporations and have their own logos. This category on my site aims to discuss the design of these logos. If you have any information about the history of some these logos, please contact me.