What Do The Six Stars On The Subaru Logo Mean?

A logo is a big part of any major company's brand identity. It takes a lot of work to create a simple little image that the average consumer can immediately associate with certain features and qualities in products. Recognizability isn't the only common thread between corporate logos, though; many of these logos also have hidden meanings in their designs, often harkening back to the company's original creation or vital mission statements. Symbolic imagery has existed alongside automobiles for generations, appearing as logos and decorations like hood ornaments.

Take, for example, the enduring Japanese automotive giant Subaru, which has made several successful models over the years. The Subaru logo is a silver, oval-shaped badge with a blue center, within which sit six pointed stars. The logo has gone through a few different design iterations over the decades, but in every single one, those six stars remain a constant. These six stars are actually a double reference; they're a nod to one of the more famous star clusters in the constellation of Taurus, as well as a nod to the handful of smaller companies that originally united to form the Subaru brand.

In Japanese, the word "Subaru" is commonly used to refer to the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the "Seven Sisters," which you can find in the constellation of Taurus. In Greek mythology, the Pleiades were the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas, who waged war against Zeus. When Atlas was defeated and sentenced to carry the heavens on his shoulders, the Pleiades pleaded with Zeus together for a place in the sky so they could be near their father. This is why "Subaru" can also be used to refer to concepts of unity or cohesion.

It was based on this original myth of unity that the Subaru logo came to be. Prior to its existence as the brand we currently know, Subaru was actually made up of five distinct Japanese companies. In 1953, these five companies would merge together into a singular company known as Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.

For Fuji Heavy Industries' most prominent developmental arm, its automotive division, it decided to pull both a name and logo from Pleiades. In reference to the five companies that joined together to create something larger, the logo was made of five small stars and one larger star, much like the six brightest stars in the Pleiades star cluster. Following that logo design, the company decided to adopt the Japanese name for Pleiades, Subaru, for its automotive division. The logo originally only referred to this automotive division, but when Fuji Heavy Industries was renamed to Subaru Corp. in 2016, it became the entire company's dominant logo.