Lacoste is the sportswear brand recognized by its crocodile logo, commonly shown as a small embroidered silhouette on the chest of its clothing.
The emblem comes from René Lacoste, the French tennis champion nicknamed “the Crocodile.” The nickname was linked to a 1920s wager involving a crocodile-skin suitcase and also reflected his determination on court. His friend Robert George created a crocodile drawing that Lacoste wore on clothing before the company was founded.
In 1933, Lacoste and André Gillier established La Chemise Lacoste, building the brand around a lightweight tennis shirt that became the modern polo. Lacoste was among the early clothing brands to place a visible emblem on the outside of a garment.
The logo is sometimes confused with Crocodile Garments, which has also used a crocodile symbol. Lacoste’s crocodile traditionally faces the opposite direction from that rival’s emblem, and Lacoste’s mark is associated especially with tennis-inspired sports fashion.