Is the Nike logo a ‘symbol of idolatry’? …“Do not wear it, buy it, or sell it” Examining the basis for Libya’s ban - 경향신문

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A familiar curve emblazoned on sneakers and T-shirts has landed at the center of a religious debate. An Islamic religious authority in Libya has judged the logo of the global sports brand Nike to be a ‘mark symbolizing polytheism’. The body urged Muslims not to buy, sell, or wear Nike products. Its reasoning is that the brand takes its name from the goddess of victory in Greek mythology, and that the logo, too, was inspired by the goddess’s wings.

The BBC in the United Kingdom reported on the 4th (local time) that Libya’s religious authority Dar al-Ifta announced a fatwa banning the purchase, sale, and wearing of clothing bearing the Nike logo. A fatwa refers to a religious ruling or legal interpretation concerning Islamic law. The decision was made by Dar al-Ifta’s Religious Committee, which is based in Tripoli, and was approved by the Grand Mufti of Libya, Sadiq al-Ghariani. However, it is not a legal prohibition issued by the state. There is also no provision that people will be punished for continuing to wear the products.

What Dar al-Ifta took issue with is the origin of the brand name and logo. Nike draws its name from Nike, the goddess of victory in Greek mythology. Nike personifies victory and glory, and in ancient Greek art she is often depicted with wings. According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, a classical studies reference published by Oxford University Press, Nike appears as the goddess of victory and is presented as a divinity associated with athletes who have won in sporting contests.

So does the name and logo Nike actually embody the goddess from Greek mythology? To begin with, it is true that the brand name derives from Nike, the goddess of victory. It is also true that the Swoosh evokes a wing. However, the explanation that the logo was made by directly copying the wing of the goddess calls for closer examination.

The precursor to Nike was Blue Ribbon Sports, founded in 1964 in the United States by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. It originally distributed shoes by the Japanese sports footwear maker Onitsuka Tiger in the US. In 1971, when the company decided to create its own brand, the name Nike emerged during the process of choosing a company name. Jeff Johnson, an early employee, proposed taking the name from the goddess of victory in Greek mythology, and founder Phil Knight accepted it. At the time, a name Knight preferred was ‘Dimension Six’.

Nike appears in ancient Greek literature as a deity who stands by Zeus, participates in the wars of the gods, and bestows glory on those who triumph in battle and competition. In ancient Greek sculpture and iconography, she is often portrayed with wings. Nike of Samothrace, on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, is a representative example. The goddess with wings spread wide, seemingly moving forward, is widely known as a symbol of victory and soaring.

Unlike monotheistic faiths that believe in a single absolute deity, the gods of Greek mythology belong to a polytheistic system in which multiple gods have their own domains and roles. Zeus, Athena, Apollo, and Aphrodite were worshiped as distinct gods, and Nike likewise was a goddess within the world of Greek deities. This underlies why the Libyan religious authority has taken issue with the name and logo Nike. Its reasoning is that displaying on clothing a name and symbol that evoke a Greek polytheistic deity conflicts with Islamic monotheistic belief.

Here, the ‘polytheism’ the Libyan side mentions is connected to what Islam calls ‘shirk’. Shirk means placing beings other than Allah on a level equal to God or believing that sacred power is shared. It is the opposite of tawhid, the core of Islamic faith, namely divine oneness and monotheism. While simply knowing the myths or names of deities from other religions is distinct from worshiping them, the Libyan religious authority has interpreted the act of wearing the Nike logo itself as promoting a symbol linked to polytheism.

So is the Swoosh logo really modeled on the wing of Nike? The story becomes a bit more complex when the logo’s creation process is examined. In 1971, Knight commissioned Carolyn Davidson, who was studying design at Portland State University, to create a stripe-like mark to go on the side of a shoe. What the company wanted at the time was a design that expressed movement. Davidson drew several drafts, and among them a shape like a check mark bent into a curve was selected as the final design.

According to records on the creation of the logo that Nike released from its archives last year, Davidson conceived the curve as a form that evokes movement. Knight was not fully satisfied with the design at first. He told Davidson, “It does not quite win me over, but I will grow to like it over time.” The fee Davidson billed for the logo design at the time was 35 dollars. A design that would later become the symbol of one of the most famous sports brands in the world was created for a student designer’s 35-dollar fee.

Even in the Muslim world, religious interpretations regarding wearing Nike are not unified. The Islamic legal advisory body ‘Darul Ifta Birmingham’ in the United Kingdom, in an answer published in September, advised that it is better to avoid Nike products, yet judged that wearing the logo itself does not amount to shirk. Muftiyah Humaira Badsha, the Islamic jurist who wrote the response, explained, “So long as there is no intent to display the iconography of Greek religion, wearing Nike apparel does not constitute shirk.” Even if the name Nike once had religious meaning, most people today do not treat the name or the logo as a religious expression. However, the reply added that since the name and logo are almost always displayed on the products, it is better to avoid such items.

The same body also answered a similar question in 2019. Alimah Sabrina Al-Farsiya, the Islamic scholar who wrote the response at the time, regarded wearing Nike products as ‘makruh (a disfavored act)’, but explained that the Swoosh itself is not a sign that directly represents religiosity or polytheistic belief. She said, “Today the Nike brand symbolizes, above all, speed and movement.” The point was that it should be distinguished from emblems that directly represent a religion, such as a cross or a Hindu idol.

Darul Ifta Mahmoodiyyah, an Islamic legal body in Zambia, likewise stated in a 2021 response about wearing Nike apparel that the Swoosh itself has no known religious origin or association and is today understood as a commercial logo of a sportswear brand. Mufti Bilal Pandor, the Islamic jurist who wrote the response, interpreted it as follows: “The fact that a brand name derives from Greek mythology and whether consumers take that name as an actual religious symbol are separate matters.”

Of course, the present fatwa does not rest on religious reasons alone. Dar al-Ifta also urged a boycott, asserting that Nike is a company that supports Israel. In November 2023, the body issued a statement calling for a boycott of products from Western companies it judged to support Israel in connection with attacks by Israel on the Gaza Strip.

It is also worth considering the social weight that religious authorities carry in Libya. The BBC reported that while Dar al-Ifta is an influential religious institution in western Libya, the country has been divided since the fall of the Muammar Gaddafi regime in 2011, with political and administrative bodies in the east and west at odds. Unlike government laws or administrative orders, a fatwa does not carry legal force, but it can influence the consumption and daily life of believers. In fact, last year the body opposed wearing jewelry and watches bearing the four-leaf-clover logo of the French luxury jewelry brand Van Cleef & Arpels, saying it evokes Christian faith and the pursuit of luck.