Mixing Mythology With Petroleum

The flying red horse symbol was first used by Vacuum Oil in South Africa in 1911. In the same year, the Standard Oil Trust was broken up by the Supreme Court with two of its divisions eventually merging, Standard Oil Company of New York and the Vacuum Oil Company in 1931. The former brought with it their Pegasus logo, the latter brought the Mobilgas name. The company confusion began in earnest with the Supreme Court's break up of Standard Oil into thirty-three different companies, including Standard Oil of New Jersey (Jersey Standard), Socony Oil, and Vacuum Oil with some companies retaining the name Standard Oil. In many states, Jersey Standard marketed its products under the brand "Esso," the phonetic pronunciation of the initials "S" and "O" in Standard Oil. In petty defiance, other Standard Oil companies in other states objected. In those states, Jersey Standard was marketed under the brands Enco (Energy Company) and Humble. Jersey Standard became Exxon Corporation in 1972 and in 1999 joined Mobil Oil Corporation. Pegasus, the Greek mythology symbol of speed and power, became the adopted trademark of Mobil, today as ExxonMobil Corporation. The red Pegasus remains among the most recognized corporate symbols in American history.