Origin of Name
The Zebra trademark was adopted in 1914. Legend has it that Mr. Ishikawa, founder of Zebra Co. Ltd., wanted a company name that would be memorable and also appropriate for their export business to other countries. He took an English/Japanese dictionary and, opening it Japanese style from the back, started with the "Z" words. He stopped at "Zebra".
Upon further research, Mr. Ishikawa found that zebras are gentle animals with a strong family herding instinct. This was an important attribute, since he wanted to build a business in which employees and customers were all part of a family-like culture. The fact that the zebra looks like it is decorated with large calligraphic pen strokes may have also appealed to the visual image he was seeking.
Read more about this topic: Zebra (pen Manufacturer)
Famous quotes containing the words origin of and/or origin:
“For, though the origin of most of our words is forgotten, each word was at first a stroke of genius, and obtained currency, because for the moment it symbolized the world to the first speaker and to the hearer. The etymologist finds the deadest word to have been once a brilliant picture.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed,—a, to me, equally mysterious origin for it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)