The Zebra trademark was adopted in 1914. Legend has it that Mr. Ishikawa, founder of Zebra Co. Ltd., took an English/Japanese dictionary and, opening it Japanese style from the back, started with the “Z” words. He stopped at “Zebra”. Zebras are gentle animals with a strong family herding instinct. This was an important attribute, since the company was created with the hope that employees and customers would all feel as if they were park of a family-like culture.