The bird that symbolizes the publishing company Penguin Books is the penguin.
Penguin Books was co-founded in Britain in 1935 by Allen Lane and his brothers Richard and John Lane. The company helped popularize inexpensive, well-designed paperback books, initially selling many titles for sixpence. Its mascot was chosen to give the brand a personality that felt both dignified and approachable.
The penguin suggestion reportedly came from Joan Coles, a secretary at The Bodley Head, after Lane wanted a mascot described as “dignified but flippant.” Office junior Edward Young then created the first version of the logo. Penguin’s early covers used a simple three-band design, with color coding to identify different kinds of books.
The company’s penguin is a brand emblem, not a reference to one particular penguin species. That is why options such as pelican, albatross, and puffin are misleading: Penguin Books’ name and logo are specifically built around the generic image of a penguin. Today Penguin is part of Penguin Random House.