The tiger has long been the symbol of Shotokan karate. But where did it come from? Who designed it? Why a tiger?

There are two stories that explain where the symbol come from. One is historical and one is more fanciful. Here they are:

Historical
Funakoshi was prompted to write a book about karate. This was to be the first karate book ever written. The man who pushed Funakoshi to write the book was an artist name Hoan Kosugi. It was decided that if Funakoshi wrote the book, Kosugi would design the cover.

In Japanese, "tora no maki" is the official written document of an art. Funakoshi's book would be the "tora no maki" of karate. "Tora" also means "tiger". It was this similarity that caused Kosugi to decide to use a tiger as the artwork he would put on the cover of the book. Thus was born the symbol of Shotokan.

Fanciful
It was said that when Funakoshi wanted to be alone and to relax, he would go for walks on Mt. Torao. "Torao" means "tiger's tail" and the mountain was named such because it resembled a tiger's tail. Thus, he decided to choose the tiger as his art's symbol. The tiger would symbolize two aspects of his art, strength and power (of the tiger itself) and peace of mind (as Funakoshi attained when walking on the mountain).