Woolmark is a wool industry

certification mark A certification mark on a commercial product or service is a registered Mark (sign), mark that enables its owner ("certification body") to certify that the goods or services of a particular provider (who is not the owner of the certification ...

used on pure wool products that meet quality standards set by The Woolmark Company. It is a

trade mark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a product or service from a particular source and distinguishes it from oth ...

owned by The Woolmark Company, which has since 2007 been a subsidiary of

Australian Wool Innovation Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Limited (AWI). The logo was launched in 1964 by the Woolmark Company under its previous name, the

International Wool Secretariat The International Wool Secretariat (IWS) was formed in 1937 to promote the sale of wool on behalf of woolgrowers and review research carried out by independent bodies such as the Wool Industries' Research Association at Torridon, Headingley Lane, L ...

History

The Woolmark logo was developed by the

(IWS), which had been founded in 1937. The logo was launched in August 1964 by IWS, then under the control of two Australians, chairman William Archer (Bill) Gunn (1914-2003) and William Vines (1916-2011) as managing director. The two main objectives of the logo were to position wool at the top of the textile market and to ensure that products bearing the Woolmark label were made from pure new wool and not blended with synthetic fibres. The logo had been selected by IWS following a competition in 1963 won by

Milanese Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ) is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...

graphic artist Francesco Saroglia (most probably a pseudonym of Italian architect, graphic designer

Franco Grignani Franco Grignani (February 4, 1908 – 20 February 1999) was an Italian architect, graphic designer and artist. He is best known for black and white graphics, particularly the Woolmark logo, which was voted 'Best Logo of all Time' by Creative R ...

). The logo was originally owned by IWS, which in 1997 changed its name to The Woolmark Company Pty Ltd. The Woolmark Company Pty Ltd and Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI) were subsidiaries of the Australian Wool Research and Promotion Organisation, which was succeeded by Australian Wool Services Limited (AWS). AWI was de-merged from AWS in 2002 and The Woolmark Company was sold by AWS to AWI in 2007. Since 2007, the Woolmark Company has been a subsidiary of AWI, a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

that conducts research, development and marketing along the global

supply chain A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distri ...

for Australian wool on behalf of approximately 60,000 woolgrowers that cooperatively fund the company. What remained of AWS became Graziers’ Investment Company Limited, which as of March 2020 was in the process of liquidation. The logo has been such a success that it eventually ranked with a large scallop shell or three-pointed-star in terms of consumer recognition and understanding. In 2011, British design magazine, ''

Creative Review ''Creative Review'' is a bimonthly print magazine and website. The magazine focuses on commercial creativity, covering design, advertising, photography, branding, digital products, film, and gaming. The magazine is published bimonthly in print an ...

'', declared the Woolmark number one of the top twenty logos of all time.

Licensing

AWI licenses the Woolmark trade mark to be used by affiliated vendors on their products as a

that the product conforms to the standards set by AWI. AWI claims that the mark is employed on textile products as an assurance that the product is made of 100% pure new wool. It signifies the brand of wool.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Certification marks Trademarks Wool industry in Australia Symbols introduced in 1964