What Is the Panasonic Logo?
The Panasonic logo is the name Panasonic written in bold letters, with no symbol beside it, usually in a deep shade the company calls Panasonic Blue. It belongs to Panasonic Holdings Corporation, the Japanese electronics group that Konosuke Matsushita founded in 1918 as Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works, making duplex lamp sockets.
The group also uses the same lettering with a business name added, such as Panasonic AUTOMOTIVE, Panasonic CONNECT and Panasonic ENERGY, and keeps Technics as a separate audio brand. The blue wordmark is available as the Panasonic logo SVG.
Panasonic Logo Facts
| Introduced | Name 1955; English lettering 1966; logo revised 1971 |
| Symbol | None; the name alone |
| Logo type | Wordmark: the Panasonic name |
| Earlier mark | PanaSonic, on export speakers in 1955 |
| Owner | Panasonic Holdings Corporation |
What the Panasonic Logo Means
The name does the work, so the meaning sits in the word. Panasonic joins "pan", meaning universal, with "sonic", referring to sound. The company says it stood for the goal of bringing its sound to customers around the world, which fits a name first chosen for a loudspeaker.
The colour carries a second idea. Panasonic Blue was adopted as a corporate colour in 1974, introduced against a photograph of the sky at dawn, just before the sun rises. Panasonic describes it as the blue seen only for a brief moment when the night sky turns to morning, standing for the hopes of a new day.
Panasonic Logo History
For its first decades the company sold its goods as National, a brand name registered in 1925 and written in Japanese lettering from 1937. When Matsushita looked abroad, National was already registered by other companies in the Americas, so in 1955 a range of export speakers went out as PanaSonic, with a capital S.
In 1966 the company adopted English lettering for both Panasonic and National, and in 1971 it revised the Panasonic logo along with the National and Technics marks. The three brands lived side by side for decades: from 1997 the combined National/Panasonic served as the corporate logo.
The balance tipped in the 2000s. In 2003 Panasonic became the global brand, and in 2007 it became the sole corporate logo. On 1 October 2008 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. renamed itself Panasonic Corporation to match. In 2015 the blue Panasonic logo was set as the corporate brand, with a black version for business brands, and in 2022 Panasonic became the group brand of the new holding company.
How Panasonic Relates to National and Technics
National was the brand that built the company at home, first used on a lamp in 1927, while Panasonic was its passport abroad. From 2004 National was kept as a Japan-specific brand, and the company phased it out between 2008 and 2010 so that one name covered everything. Technics, first used on high-end speakers in 1965, kept its own logo and returned as a hi-fi brand in 2014. For a Japanese contemporary with a symbol of its own, compare the Hitachi logo.
For more brands like Panasonic, browse our tech logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the name Panasonic mean?
It joins "pan", meaning universal, and "sonic", referring to sound, a fitting choice for a name first used on export speakers in 1955.
Why is the Panasonic logo blue?
Panasonic Blue became the corporate colour in 1974, modelled on the brief blue of the sky at dawn, which the company links to hope for a new day.
What was Panasonic called before?
The company was Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. until 1 October 2008, and sold many of its products in Japan under the National brand.
Is Technics part of Panasonic?
Yes. Technics has been the group's audio brand since 1965 and keeps a logo separate from the Panasonic wordmark.