Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. is a Japanese watchmaker founded in 1930 and named after the first pocket watch the company released in 1924, a name suggested by Tokyo’s then-mayor to convey that the watch would be cherished by many citizens for years to come.[1] The company’s visual identity consists of two distinct marks: the corporate “CITIZEN” wordmark used across the brand’s products and communications, and the eagle mark, which serves as the symbol of The CITIZEN, the company’s flagship sub-brand established in 1995.[1]
Design and History
In 2014, Citizen launched its first global brand statement, “Better Starts Now,” created in collaboration with the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo, which Citizen had appointed as its global branding agency earlier that year.[2] As part of this initiative, the company created a new global brand identity, logo, and brand website to communicate the philosophy that “it is always possible to make something better, and now is the time to start doing it.”[3] The brand movie and identity were produced with Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo, with the film directed by Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer.[4]
The eagle mark, the symbol of The CITIZEN, underwent a redesign in 2020 to mark the brand’s 25th anniversary. The new design depicts the eagle with its wings spread wide, and the mark is stamped on the dial, crown, and case back of The CITIZEN watches.[1] In 2021, Nippon Design Center worked on a rebranding project for The CITIZEN, reinterpreting the eagle mark “not as a symbol of authority but as an emblem of striving toward new ideals,” and developing the slogan “Creator of the Next Ideal.”[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The symbol of The CITIZEN is an eagle with its wings spread wide. According to Citizen, eagles possess extraordinarily powerful eyesight and can spot prey from as far as 1,000 meters away, making the eagle a symbol of foresight and action based on a clear vision of the future. The eagle was adopted as the emblem of The CITIZEN’s twin commitments of “always looking ahead and pursuing the ideal” and “becoming an integral part of users’ lives.”[6] The eagle mark is discreetly stamped on the dial, crown, and other parts of the watch.[6]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
