True meaning behind Adidas' iconic three-stripes logo
Liv Bridge
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Adidas is recognised all over the world, but few know the real meaning behind the brand's iconic three-stripes.
If you walked down any high street in Europe, you're likely to come across the three stripes in one fashion or another: on sneakers, jackets, tracksuits, fitness wear, or even purses and a host of other out-of-the-box accessories.
After all, the sportswear company not only has its HQ in Germany, but stands as the largest athletic apparel manufacturer across the continent and the second largest in the world, only narrowly missing out on the top spot thanks to Nike.
It's famously known for its image, from working with Kanye West's brand Yeezy on its Boost Sneakers to kitting out professional footballers in the FIFA World Cup, a handful of whom Adidas has collaborations with.
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Americans fell in love with the shoes when the creators, brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, persuaded US sprinter Jesse Owens to use their handmade spiked running shoes in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Despite the pair going on to join the Nazi party in World War Two, occupying American soldiers were deterred from destroying their factory, convinced the brothers only wanted to make sports shoes.
By 1949, Adolf and Rudolf fell out, prompting the former to go solo with his vision by registering Adidas AG, from Adi Dassler, and so Adidas was born - and with a rival too as the scorned sibling launched Ruda, now fondly known as Puma.
At the time, Adidas was primarily focussed on making sports shoes, so unsurprisingly the first ever logo had a track-and-field spiked shoe sitting between extended lines from the two d's in Adidas to look like a goal post.
Of course, the shoe was donning its signature three-stripes from the get-go in the logo, meaning the trademark was crucial on every shoe.
According to a blog by Adidas, the 'tell-tale stripes' have their own story beyond just looking cool and sporty, and don't hold any numerological meaning.
"They ended up on the first pair of adidas shoes after Dassler had tested several versions and numbers of stripes and found that three simply showed up most prominently in photography—an important factor for a new-to-the-scene sports gear brand hoping to make a splash," the brand states.
"Clearly it worked, as the 3-Stripes continues to be a world-famous trademark that symbolizes Adidas."
It wasn't until 1972 that Adidas branched out from shoes into the world of apparel, and with it came another logo.
The Trefoil, inspired by three leaf-shaped foils, was made by a collaborative team of Adidas leaders and designers - and the three-stripes run across the leaves.
This logo is prominent on all Adidas clothing from 1972 and on shoes from 1976 onwards, up until 2000 when it became reserved for all Adidas Originals products.
Now you know!