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The Puma logo, which is the identifying marker for the German sportswear giant, is one of the most legendary logos in the athleisure industry. The German label was founded in October 1948, as Rudolf Dassler registered the company's trademark at the German Patent and Trademark Office. According to its official page, the label has been working to advance sports and culture over the last 70 years:
"PUMA has relentlessly pushed sport and culture forward by creating fast products for the world’s fastest athletes. For more than 70 years, we draw strength and credibility from our heritage in sports."
The label has reached new heights in popularity, which has not only made its products iconic, but also its logo. The Puma logo can be recognized anywhere globally, and there are a number of interesting facts associated with the logo and its evolution.
5 facts to know about the Puma logo and its evolution
1) Original Puma logo featured a capital "D"
The German label introduced their original logo in 1948, which featured the iconic Puma cat jumping through the capital "D." The letter "D" represented the founder Rudolf Dassler, and they kept this logo until 1957.
Next, the label added the lettering "Puma" to it, and a year later, "Rudolf," "Dassler," and "Schuhfabrik" were added to the design with a triangular border. While all these logos were eye-catching at the time, it wasn't the graceful image that we associate the brand with today.
2) The iconic form strip was once seen as the Puma logo
In 1959, the label updated their old logo with a new element, which fitted into the brand's identity for their iconic shoes. The shoe was placed facing the lateral profile, which revealed the iconic "Formstrip" logo. The shoes' form stripe was kept white to gain attention. The logo is part reason why a significant amount of Puma shoes still feature only white-hued form strip branding.
3) The iconic Puma cat logo and lettering branding is known as the "No. 1 Logo"
The German label introduced its world-famous "No. 1 Logo" in 1968. In this logo, the cat jumps upon the lettering logo. The official site introduces the design as,
"The world famous "No. 1 Logo" takes shape: The puma takes its leap across the upper right corner of the word logo. Only minor changes have been made over the years: the eye and nuzzle are gone and the ears are more pronounced today."
It is currently one of the most well-known and popular logos of all time and has remained the same throughout the years, seeing only small changes.
4) The Puma cat logo represents sporting prowess and agility
The use of the Puma cat in the logo was a natural and obvious choice for the label. The silhouette uses the company name for its visual identity as well. The cat visual represents strength, grace, and agility. Over time, these concepts were merged with the brand identity.
The logo was designed to demonstrate the power that the brand holds in the sportswear world, with the leaping cat representing agility and sporting prowess.
5) Color of the Puma logo is officially kept black
Over the years, the Puma logo has been experimented with multiple times in a number of colors. However, ultimately, the official color for the logo has been kept black. Another theory for it is that while the logo is black and white, the black background appears as a transparent overlay on any other background.
Inverted versions with white bases have also been depicted on many silhouettes. The choice of black hue was practical for the label to keep the logo sleek, simple, yet memorable. Black also dominates upon any other color and is usually associated with power and strength.
In the Puma logo, the branding uses a sans-serif typeface in all capital letters, which underscores boldness. The typeface ends have slightly rounded edges that align with the sleek curves of the cat logo.
