Quiksilver is an Australian surf and action sports brand founded in 1969 by Alan Green and John Law in Torquay, Victoria. The company’s logo, a cresting wave combined with a snow-capped mountain, has served as its identifying mark since the brand’s early years and remains closely tied to its surf heritage.[1]
Design and History
The Quiksilver logo depicts a large wave with a mountain, a design attributed to founders Alan Green and John Law.[2] The mark was inspired by Japanese artist Hokusai’s woodblock print “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” which shows a towering wave beside Mount Fuji.[1][2] The official brand description identifies the logo as symbolising “excellence and authenticity.”[1]
Sources differ on the exact date of the logo’s creation. Some accounts date the design to 1969, the year Green and Law began making boardshorts in Torquay,[3] while others place it in 1973, the year the Quiksilver brand was formally launched.[2][1] A Japanese fashion industry profile notes that the current mountain-and-wave logo has been in use since 1971.[4]
Early versions of the mark appeared on a red background, a detail noted in museum records and historical descriptions of the company’s logo.[5][2] The logo has also been described as reflecting the company’s surfing and outdoor or mountaineering interests.[3]
The mark has remained consistent through the company’s corporate changes. Current brand materials continue to reference the “mountain and wave” logo as the brand’s identifying symbol.[6]
Meaning and Symbolism
According to Quiksilver’s official corporate information, the cresting wave and snow-capped mountain logo symbolises excellence and authenticity.[1] The same source states that the logo was inspired by a famous Japanese woodcut depicting a typhoon wave and Mount Fuji.[1]
Museum documentation of Quiksilver products offers an additional interpretation, noting that the mountain-and-wave logo reflects the company’s surfing and outdoor or mountaineering interests.[3] A European catalogue record also suggests the mark may represent the abbreviation for California, “CA,” though it acknowledges the Hokusai influence as the more commonly cited origin.[5]
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