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Originally Blue Ribbon Sports
In 1964, Phil Knight and track coach Bill Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports with the aim of distributing Japanese Onitsuka (now Asics) running shoes across the United States. By 1971, as the company prepared to launch its own line of athletic footwear, a new brand name became essential. It was employee Jeff Johnson who suggested "Nike," a name he claimed to have seen in a dream. This name refers to Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, a fitting choice for a brand aspiring to athletic success.
Carolyn Davidson's 30 Hours
Around the same period, Phil Knight approached Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student he encountered in an accounting class, to create a logo for the new brand. The core requirement was for a "simple mark that would be suitable for athletic shoes." Davidson dedicated approximately 30 hours to the task, eventually presenting the iconic "swoosh" design. Knight's initial response to the proposed logo was famously candid: "I don't love it, but it'll grow on me," a pragmatic acceptance given the pressing deadlines for production and branding.
A Reward 12 Years Later
Twelve years later, in 1983, as Nike was preparing for its Initial Public Offering (IPO), Phil Knight sought to properly acknowledge Davidson's foundational contribution. He presented her with a golden swoosh ring, uniquely set with 500 shares of Nike company stock. Remarkably, Carolyn Davidson has never sold these shares, continuing to hold them for nearly five decades. This gesture transformed her original $35 payment for the logo into one of the most celebrated and significant examples of return on investment in the history of design.
Victory Through Hanja
The Hanja character "勝" (seung), meaning victory, is composed of two radicals: 月 (wol), which can mean moon or meat, and 卷 (gwon), meaning to roll or endure. This combination suggests "rolling up meat and enduring for a long time, ultimately leading to victory." The character "勝" is central to words like victory (승리), certain victory (필승), and contest (승부). It implies that resilience and steadfastness are key to achieving triumph. Intriguingly, Nike's famous advertising slogan, "Just Do It," encapsulates a similar spirit of determination and perseverance, which is already profoundly expressed within the single Hanja character "勝" in an Eastern context.
