BRIDGESTONE LOGO.

[reed]

BRIDGESTONE LOGO.
On the Bridgestone logo or emblem where did the black lion come from!
Anybody know.
Thanks.
Steve.

[OldSwartout]

That's not really a Lion, it's a Griffin (gryphon).   And, no, I have no idea where it came from. 

[reed]

Karl
where i am from Griffin have wings but i wonder if the logo comes from a Japanese military division!
Thanks.
Steve.

[BS Mechanic]

An old rumor I heard was that the griffin and even the name "Bridgestone" were chosen to sound more "British" and less Japanese, to counter the lingering poor reputation Japanese products had back in the early days from post WWII.

[reed]

BS Mechanic
Thanks for the information on the Bridgestone logo.
Steve.

[bsforever]

This is a response i had kept awhile back ago, i do not even remember exactly the web address, but i copied the info and has the name of the author....i can paste it here. --> Doc Robinson
Oct 27th, 2010 at 6:49 am
Just thought I’d add a snipper of (perhaps) mild interest. A buddy of mine who used to be a Bridgestone tire dealer once told me that Bridgestone was named after the name of the founder, Shojiro Ishibashi (Ishi = Stone, Bashi = Bridge) and that the products either initially were, or were intended to be, marketed under the English name of Stonebridge, but it didn’t seem to have the right ring about it and thus was reversed to the now familiar Bridgestone. Like I said, mildly interesting (perhaps).

[paul]

Weren't some of the Bridgestones referred to as the lion hearted ones in US magazine advertisements. I recall seeing a real lion in some of the 175 advertisements in a magazine  published in US.

[ziggy stardust]

I think it's meant to be a lion to go with the British sounding name. Lions being part of British history regarding 'coat of arms'.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_coat_of_arms_of_the_United_Kingdom


Z

[OldSwartout]

I think you are right about it being a stylized lion resembling a British coat-of-arms.  A Griffin is a lion's body with the head and wings of an eagle.  The creature in the Bridgestone logo is wingless and the head resembles a lion, not an eagle.