The History of and Story Behind the Subaru Logo

Have you ever looked at the logo for certain car companies and wondered exactly what that particular logo means? Is it possible to assume that there is sometimes something meaningful behind the logo or is it just some marketing scam that people sit together and think up during a meeting so they can sell more automobiles? As it turns out, it can sometimes be a little bit of both. In reality, it depends more on the car company itself than on any accepted tradition within the automotive industry. Therefore, you have to look at it from this particular perspective in order to gain a better understanding about whether or not the particular logo in question actually means anything. With regard to the Subaru logo, there is actually a rather poignant meaning behind the logo itself. In short, Subaru’s logo tells a story, one that many people are not entirely familiar with.

The Story Behind Subaru’s Logo

In order to gain a better understanding of what the logo means, it is first necessary to understand the story behind it. Officials at the company wanted to do something that would really stand out, but they also wanted it to have meaning. As a result, they came together in order to create a blue oval with one big star and five smaller ones. The big star stands by itself while the five smaller ones are in a cluster. It’s designed to represent the Pleiades star constellation, something that was believed to have been formed over 100 million years ago. This fact is interesting in and of itself, but as it turns out there is more to the story than just the logo itself. The people behind its development wanted to create something that would be more than just an eye-catching logo. As such, they were very careful in choosing the name Subaru as well as the logo that people would eventually come to associate with it.

The Meaning Behind the Name

Subaru is not just a name that was thought up by some business executive working for an automotive company in a stuffy office. The name actually means united, something that developers thought would be apt for a company that bases its automotive designs on quality, longevity and durability. Subaru frequently runs commercials about cars that excel in both safety and performance as well as their ability to last for decades. All of these qualities have come to be hallmarks of the company. For them, it doesn’t seem to be a simple marketing gimmick. It appears to be the way that they make decisions within the company. As such, Subaru has set itself apart in the automotive industry, for all of the aforementioned reasons. When other car companies are creating new gimmicks just to make sales, Subaru is standing behind the same principles that they have stood behind since the day they were first developed. It’s something that car owners appreciate and it’s one of the major reasons why so many people continue to come back to purchase new cars from them again and again.

The Scientific Aspect

There is something quite unique about the Pleiades star cluster. When you look at it through a telescope, you can only see six of the constellation’s seven stars, as one is hidden directly behind the other. That is one of the major reasons why Subaru only shows six stars on their logo. It’s also why one of those stars is much larger than the others. The idea is that the seventh star is hidden behind the one that takes center stage on the logo. However, the five smaller stars also play a major role because they are all touching one another, further solidifying the idea of being united. From a scientific standpoint, it’s interesting to note that when one looks through a telescope, more than 200 additional stars appear in the constellation, all of them with a bluish color. That is why the oval is blue.

The Mythological Aspect

In order to bring everything full circle, it is equally important to understand the mythological aspect behind this constellation of stars. In Greek mythology, it all has to do with being fated to govern in a manner that allows everyone to work as one. That is where Subaru got the idea for unity from. By combining Greek mythology with the scientific knowledge that is possessed in modern times and the meaning of the name Subaru, it all comes together to form something that is very unique and quite memorable to anyone who sees it. In fact, the Subaru logo has become so prevalent that most people know what car company it is associated with, without even seeing the name. This has become so deeply ingrained into people that Subaru often leaves the name of the company itself off of the car except for a small notation attached to the back of the automobile.

If you are looking at it from the front, the only thing you see is the logo. Despite that fact, almost everyone instinctively knows that they are looking at a Subaru. Subaru’s logo has remained unchanged for a number of years. While other automakers are tweaking their logos or making them five times larger than they have ever been in order to make them stand out more, Subaru is doing what it has always done. They are quietly working to create high quality automobiles that are capable of doing everything they say they can do. The car company doesn’t really seem focused on making the logo more recognizable, nor does there appear to be a need for any such thing. The logo has a great deal of meaning and seems almost perfect exactly the way that it is.

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