People are only just realising what Nike means - and it's absolutely fascinating

You don’t person to beryllium a mega sports instrumentality to cognize the Nike brand. It whitethorn represented by a simple, understated tick, but it’s besides 1 of the astir recognisable logos successful the world.

The ‘Swoosh’ logo unneurotic with the trademark “Just Do It” tagline marque up the halfway of the Nike brand, which is loved by apical athletes, large sports teams and mundane shoppers alike. But there’s overmuch much to the marque than meets the eye.

The communicative down the Nike marque stems from past Greek mythology, with its sanction coming from the Greek goddess of victory. 

The planetary sportswear marque adopted the goddess Nike arsenic its namesake successful 1971 and introduced its ‘swoosh’ logo that aforesaid year.

But earlier this the institution really operated nether a antithetic sanction and was initially called Blue Ribbon Sports from 1964 until 1971.

As a sponsor to galore high-profile athletes and sports teams astir the world, the company's caller sanction is simply a fitting moniker to assistance animate occurrence among those who proudly deterioration the brand.

Speaking astir the origins of the Nike brand, sports writer Mike Pearson said: “One of BRS's [Blue Ribbon Sports) archetypal employees, Jeff Johnson, is credited with coming up with 'Nike', named aft the Greek winged goddess of victory.

“Facing a mill deadline to enactment a sanction connected the footwear box, Knight grudgingly went with the four-letter connection that nary of the shoes' archetypal purchasers knew precisely however to pronounce.

"The container besides sported a quirky yet unsocial logo that Bowerman and Knight hoped consumers would easy remember.”

Explaining however the Nike swoosh came to beingness Kit Morris, Nike's manager of assemblage sports marketing, said: “At the time, Phil Knight was teaching accounting classes astatine Portland State University. He met a postgraduate pupil successful plan named Carolyn Davidson and helium asked her if she would plan a logo for Nike. 

“I recognize that she was trying to prevention up wealth for a prom formal astatine the time. She charged $2 an hr and submitted a measure for 17-and-a-half hours. So, for the princely sum of $35, the swoosh was created. The helping plan was a conception of Nike, the goddess of winged victory. There's a statue successful the Louvre that embodies that, that we usage arsenic a model.”

Nike is the goddess who personifies triumph successful immoderate tract and is said to person had an overwhelming tendency to ever win, making her a fitting sanction for a sportswear marque that wants to animate athletes to beryllium the champion of the best.

The goddess is known for her triumph successful battles and is often portrayed successful Greek creation arsenic winged to symbolise her spot and agility. She has besides been depicted carrying a thenar subdivision arsenic a awesome of bid pursuing a triumph oregon with Hermes’ unit arsenic the messenger of victory, but is astir commonly symbolised by the laurel wreath, which successful past times was often fixed to victors successful battle.

Greek lit besides portrays Nike arsenic a goddess who judges the excellence of gods and mortals successful competition, which is wherefore she is often depicted by the broadside of a victor to hail their occurrence oregon wearing golden clothing.