What sport is depicted in the Ralph Lauren logo?

The sport depicted in the Ralph Lauren logo is polo. The emblem shows a mounted polo player raising a mallet, an image that became one of fashion’s most recognizable symbols.

Lauren chose “Polo” as the name of his first full menswear line in 1968. The sport suggested elegance, aspiration, and a polished country-club lifestyle that matched the visual world he wanted his clothing to express. The logo first appeared publicly in 1971 on the cuff of a women’s tailored shirt.

It later became closely associated with the brand’s signature Polo shirt. In 1972, the cotton-mesh shirt placed the polo-player emblem prominently at the chest, helping establish the motif as a shorthand for Ralph Lauren’s preppy American style.

The logo is sometimes mistaken for a generic horse-riding or equestrian symbol, but its details identify the sport: the rider holds a long mallet used to strike a ball during polo. The image is therefore more specific than simply a horse or a golfer on horseback.