What Is the Sony Logo?
The Sony logo is the name SONY in black serif capitals, with no symbol beside it. Its current form dates from 1973, the result of nearly two decades of small refinements to the wordmark.
Sony is the Japanese electronics company founded in Tokyo on 7 May 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. It took the name Sony Corporation in 1958. The black wordmark is available as the Sony logo SVG.
Sony Logo Facts
| Introduced | Current form in 1973; first Sony logo in 1955 |
| Symbol | None; the name alone in serif capitals |
| Logo type | Wordmark: the name SONY |
| Earlier mark | The name inside a square frame, from 1955 |
| Owner | Sony Group Corporation |
What the Sony Logo Means
The Sony logo spells a name made from words for sound and youth.
- Sonus: the Latin word for sound.
- Sonic: the English word with the same root.
- Sonny: American slang of the 1950s for a young boy.
Morita dropped one n from Sonny. In Japanese, "sonny" could be read as "son-nee", which sounds like the word for financial loss.
A Japanese company named in Roman letters instead of kanji was unusual in 1958. The name had already appeared on the logo and on export products since 1955.
Sony Logo History
The Sony logo history begins in 1955, when the name was registered as a trademark, and reaches its present shape in 1973.
| Year | What changed |
|---|---|
| 1955 | The first logo puts SONY inside a square frame |
| 1957 | The square goes and the letters are redrawn |
| 1961 | Designer Yasuo Kuroki draws a new logo for a neon sign in Hong Kong |
| 1962 | Kuroki's logo is adopted, first seen in an advert for a micro TV |
| 1973 | The sixth version, the basis of the logo in use since |
The 1961 change had a practical cause. Sony planned a neon sign in Hong Kong, the first by a Japanese company there, and the earlier letters did not suit neon tubes. Morita gave the job to Yasuo Kuroki.
A second version in 1962 came with rules for using the logo. Those rules were the start of a single corporate design for the company.
The 1981 Logo Contest
In 1981 Sony asked the world to redesign its logo, then kept the old one. The Sony International Logotype Design Contest marked the company's 35th anniversary.
- Just under 30,000 entries arrived from around the world.
- A committee narrowed them to 59, and directors picked three finalists.
- Co-founder Masaru Ibuka decided none of them was better than the original.
Sony split the prize money between the three finalists and used none of their designs. The serif wordmark from 1973 stayed in place.
For more brands like Sony, browse our tech logos.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the name Sony mean?
It mixes sonus, the Latin word for sound, with sonny, 1950s slang for a young boy. Morita dropped one n so Japanese speakers would not hear the word for loss.
Who designed the Sony logo?
Yasuo Kuroki drew the logo Sony adopted in 1962. The version in use since 1973 grew out of these earlier redesigns.
When did the Sony logo last change?
In 1973, when Sony settled on the sixth version of its wordmark.
Why did Sony not change its logo in 1981?
Masaru Ibuka judged that none of the nearly 30,000 contest entries beat the existing logo, so Sony kept it.