What Is the JBL Logo?
The JBL logo is the letters JBL in white inside a solid orange rectangle, topped by a black exclamation-mark shape. The exclamation mark goes back to the company's first logo of 1946, and industrial designer Arnold Wolf set it in a solid box in the late 1960s. The logo belongs to JBL, the loudspeaker and audio brand that James Bullough Lansing founded in Los Angeles in 1946 and that has been part of Harman since 1969.
The boxed letters with the exclamation mark are available as the JBL logo SVG.
JBL Logo Facts
| Designer | Arnold Wolf, building on Jerome Gould's original |
| Introduced | Late 1960s |
| Symbol | An exclamation mark |
| Logo type | Emblem: initials and exclamation mark inside a rectangle |
| Earlier mark | Jerome Gould's black and white exclamation-mark logo of 1946 |
| Owner | Harman International, a Samsung Electronics company |
What the JBL Logo Means
The three letters are the founder's initials: James B. Lansing. They became the brand name in 1955, when the company shortened its name to settle disputes with Altec Lansing, the firm that had bought Lansing's first business and kept his surname.
Graphic designer Roger Kennedy, recalling JBL's graphics, praised Gould's original exclamation mark but found the "Signature Sound" lettering beside it weak. Wolf's answer was to keep the symbol, redraw the lettering and enclose both in a solid box. Kennedy remembered the result in solid red on cartons and blind-embossed on stationery.
JBL Logo History
James B. Lansing had been in the speaker business since 1927, when he started Lansing Manufacturing Company in Los Angeles. Altec Service Corporation bought it in 1941 and it became Altec Lansing. After leaving, Lansing founded Lansing Sound in 1946, which was renamed James B. Lansing Sound and then shortened to JBL Sound.
The first logo, the "JBL signature" designed by Jerome Gould in 1946, was a black and white exclamation mark. Once the company became JBL, the letters were placed inside the circle of the exclamation point. In the late 1960s Arnold Wolf, the industrial designer behind JBL's Paragon speaker of 1958, redesigned the logo, combining Gould's symbol with new lettering in a solid box. Accounts differ on whether this was 1967 or 1968. Wolf went on to run JBL as president from 1969 to 1980.
Sidney Harman acquired JBL in 1969, and Samsung Electronics has owned Harman since 2017, which brings JBL into the same group as the Samsung logo.
JBL Sound at Woodstock
The box logo had barely arrived when JBL equipment reached its biggest stage. In 1969 JBL components were part of Bill Hanley's sound system at the Woodstock festival, and JBL equipment was used again at Woodstock 1999. In 1955 Leo Fender fitted JBL's D-130 speaker into his amplifiers, which began JBL's move into professional music.
For more brands like JBL, browse our tech logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does JBL stand for?
James B. Lansing, the American audio engineer who founded the company in Los Angeles in 1946.
Why does the JBL logo have an exclamation mark?
The exclamation mark has been part of JBL's identity since Jerome Gould's first logo in 1946, and Arnold Wolf kept it when he redesigned the logo in the late 1960s.
Who designed the JBL logo?
Jerome Gould drew the original exclamation-mark logo in 1946, and Arnold Wolf redesigned it with a solid box in the late 1960s.
Who owns JBL?
Harman International, whose founder Sidney Harman acquired JBL in 1969. Samsung Electronics has owned Harman since 2017.