Honda

About the Honda Logo

About Honda

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo, founded in 1948 in Hamamatsu by Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa. It began as a motorcycle maker and quickly became the world’s largest producer of two-wheeled vehicles. Honda entered the car business in 1963 with the T360 pickup and S500 sports car, and went on to build global best-sellers like the Civic, Accord, and CR-V.

Known for reliable, fuel-efficient engineering and the motto “The Power of Dreams,” Honda also builds racing engines, generators, and robotics, and remains one of Japan’s most respected industrial companies.

Logo Meaning and History

The stylized capital “H” takes its form from the founder’s surname. Its distinctive shape was inspired by the shamisen, a traditional Japanese stringed instrument that Soichiro Honda played as a hobby. The mark stands for precision, reliability, and technical innovation.

Honda actually uses two emblems: the “H” badge for automobiles and the winged logo, inspired by the wings of the Greek goddess of victory, for its motorcycles and powersports division, where racing is central to the brand’s identity.

Evolution

• 1961 – The first “H” logo appears on the T360, a short, wide letter on a red badge.
• 1969 – The “H” becomes taller and narrower, set on a black background.
• 1981 – The mark is enclosed in a rounded square frame with the “HONDA” wordmark beneath it.
• 2000 – The emblem gains a 3D chrome finish and the logotype turns red.
• 2025 – A flat, borderless “H” is introduced for the next generation of Honda electric vehicles.

Colors and Font

The logo uses Honda Red (#CC0000) with white (#FFFFFF) and black (#000000) elements. The wordmark is a custom-drawn letterform rather than an off-the-shelf font, with the 2000 redesign pairing a metallic silver emblem with a slim red “HONDA” logotype.

Download the Honda logo for free in vector (SVG) or PNG format.