Evolution of the Mazda Logo

In marketing, an icon or symbol of a company or corporation is used to define their business in a single glance. Successful companies have made an art of popular logos and have invested millions of dollars into developing eye-catching and easily-recognizable icons. McDonald’s has one of the most famous icons in the world and those golden arches can be translated into any language in any country with great ease.

As automobile companies became more popular and more varieties of cars and trucks hit the road, it became necessary for car manufacturing companies to help their vehicle stand out from the rest. Often without seeing the back of a car, you can tell immediately who made it. However, sometimes you need a closer look or would like to know the make and model of something you like as it drives by. Car manufacturing companies started to develop their own iconic logos and representation so that you could tell a Chevy from a Ford and a BMW from a Mercedes.

Mazda is no different. While the company originated in 1910, they didn’t register their first corporate logo until 1936. Three wheel trucks built by Mazda at the time bore a scripted version of their name with a line through the letter Z. Shortly thereafter, they came out with their first stylized logo which was three lines with bumps in the middle to represent Hiroshima. The bumps also looked like 3 stacked versions of the letter M, which stood for Mazda Motor Manufacturer. Later in 1959, Mazda changed their symbol and logo to be a stylized version of a lowercase M with two lines.

In 1975, the company opted to use a stylized version of their full name as in 1936. This typeset was much more bold even though the letters were almost all lowercase. The full name was used to indicate the presence of their vehicles on dealer lots and documents.

However, in 1991, they went back to an iconic symbol and dropped the full name. This time, the symbol was a rounded oval with a sharp diamond shape in the middle. It is often said that this symbo was meant to represent a flame within a sun and stood for heartfelt passion. This icon was later softened in 1992 to a less sharp diamond shape in the middle.

Today’s familiar Mazda logo was developed in 1997. It is a stylized M that looks like a seagull with wings. Intended to represent the company’s look toward the future and stretching of their wings over new horizons, the logo is often paired with the full name in dealer documentation and on the backs of vehicles.

As the company continues to keep up with market demands and evolve with consumer desires, their logo and corporate symbol is bound to change as well.