PUMA’s jumping cat logo is one of the most iconic logos in our industry and something we are very proud of. Find out how an afternoon stroll through the zoo in Nuremberg resulted in this extraordinary design.
When Rudolf Dassler founded his own shoe manufacturing company in 1948, he first named it “RUDA” – a combination of the first two letters of his first and last name. Fortunately, he quickly dismissed the idea and picked the name “PUMA”. Helmut Fischer, founder of the PUMA Archive and known as Mr. PUMA, remembers why:
“Rudolf’s vision was that all of his products would embody the characteristics of a puma cat: speed, strength, endurance and agility – the same attributes that a successful athlete needs as well.”
Rudolf Dassler in his office
Although the first logo from 1948, did not quite reflect this agility, it took until December 1967 for the first version of the PUMA cat logo to be created like we know it today. “Rudolf’s son Gerd Dassler was friends with the caricaturist Lutz Backes, who was assigned to design a new PUMA cat logo”, Helmut remembers. In order to capture the cat’s agility as accurately as possible, Lutz went to Nuremberg Zoo to sketch a real puma. But agility wasn’t what that specific puma was in the mood for that day.
“I was waiting for the puma to jump, but it didn’t. I strolled over to the next enclosure, where I spotted a black panther. It was very agile– exactly what I was looking for. That’s when I had the idea to draw the panther with the head, tail and paws of a puma.”
– Lutz Backes
– Lutz Backes
PUMA Archive Lead Ulrich Planer, Lutz Backes and Helmut Fischer
Lutz Backes visiting the PUMA Headquarters in 2026
PUMA’s world famous ‘No. 1 logo’ was born.
In 1968 the famous trademark was officially introduced and the PUMA takes its first leap across the upper right corner of the PUMA word logo.Soon after, the PUMA cat started to appear on many PUMA products, but slightly changed over the years: The eye and mouth are gone but the ears are more pronounced today. Though Rudolf Dassler once joked that a long tail cost him more advertising money, its length remained pretty much like Lutz Backes had originally drawn it.
“Strength, endurance and speed are the attributes of a puma with which our athletes will succeed.”
– Rudolf Dassler
– Rudolf Dassler
A brief history of the PUMA logo
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