SVG was the result of an effort to make an open standard for vector graphics. As is typical for open standards, it wasn't an entirely novel concept. There were

SVG was the result of an effort to make an open standard for vector graphics. As is typical for open standards, it wasn't an entirely novel concept. There were several competing alternatives; IIRC, SVG was one of half a dozen proposals submitted, and most of those proposals were evolutions of prior designs/attempts at a standard. While flash was an original design, it was as much a "reinvented Shockwave" as SVG was a "reinvented flash".