The unique History of Subaru’s Car Logo

Fuji heavy industries started in the early 1950s when a group of Japanese companies came together, hence the name Subaru (which means united in Japanese). The stars within the logo and emblem represent the Pleiades constellation or the stars that are coming ‘together’. Fuji heavy industries were the first company to use the term Subaru for their vehicles and their brand. Subaru in western countries became increasingly popular, expanding out of its original niche market space. If you were looking to find more info about Subaru’s logo and its origin, you found the right page!

Subaru’s Popularity

The one example that comes to mind to put the popularity of the company into perspective is the boxer layout engine, which has been very popular since its introduction in 1966. Subaru’s marketing mostly targets individuals who wish to own the company’s signature engine. The latter is well-known for its raw power, and even with earlier models hosting the beast, it was capable of traversing rough terrains, while the car itself was a high-quality and affordable sports car. That’s not all, almost every Subaru comes with an AWD or commonly known as an all-wheel-drive which allows one to drive in dangerous conditions (4 wheels engine). Some might wonder, how did this iconic automobile manufacturer come up with such a memorable emblem? Discover this interesting and surprising story just below.

The History and Meaning of Subaru

Fuji Heavy Industries came to be when five companies came together to make investments in 1953. Afterward, the five companies merged and formed FHI, through this merger came the inception of Subaru. As mentioned in our intro, Subaru means “united” or “come together” which the Japanese used to describe the Pleiades constellation. The constellation is also known as the Messier 45 or the Seven Sisters in which the meaning derives from Greek mythology. The seven stars were daughters of Atlas, these sisters’ names were Asterope, Maia, Taygeta, Celaeno, Alcyone, Electra, and Europe. You must be wondering why there are only six stars in Subaru’s logo while the number of sisters is seven? The reason is simple, the seventh star cannot be seen by our naked eyes. Indeed, this is due to the cluster of stars appearing to have only six stars. Since two of the stars are so close together, they are perceived as one giant star.

The Meaning of the Stars

Another interpretation of the logo is that Subaru’s logo’s largest star embodies Fuji Heavy Industries while the other five small stars embody the five companies that invested and merged with FHI. The blue background of the emblem was chosen because the colors of the Pleiades stars are a shining blue. The stars and blue background embodies the company’s ethos, which is united in delivering a product that consumers would trust, use and love to own.

Iterations of the logo

Since the 1950s, Subaru has made many iterations of its logo. Some iterations had different color backgrounds and the disposition of the stars changed multiple times throughout the years. Early iterations of the logo had the stars interconnected, but as time moved on, the designers started to think about the overall organization of the logo. Some versions would present a gold star-speckled background, or a red background followed by slight changes to the oval shape of the logo. Thereafter, the logo became simpler, or in other words, was not trying to mimic the disposition of the Pleiades stars anymore.

This evolution slowly led us to the current logo, where the designers took the liberty to take out one of the stars, enlarge it and place it in the upper left corner of the oval. They then placed the five other stars together in a line in the bottom right corner of the oval logo. The background has changed to a lighter and gradient color background of blue. The oval of the logo has also changed to become flattered. Nowadays, whoever sees this logo instantly recognizes Subarus cars, without forgetting their nice AWD or All-Wheel Drive feature.

Growth and Future of the Brand

Since 1958 Subarus Brand has continuously grown, by building a good reputation, brand image, and trust from their customers. Subaru has consistently used the logo in every area they serve around the world. Their commitment to the brand emphasizes the brand’s ongoing global unity. The giant of the car industry has currently no plans of deploying a new logo, which has been used for many years now.

Subaru continues to be an extremely popular brand with legions of followers who wish to get one of the newest models or who already own a Subaru vehicle. The Company has seen dramatic sales increases over the years, a testament to their dedication. This could also be attributed to the high-quality representation of their brand image. A wise man once said, a picture is worth a thousand words, and that couldn’t be more true for Subaru’s emblem and logo, which continues to aid in the growth of Subaru’s brand image around the world.