Top 10 auto emblems - the story behind the badge

By: Drivers staff

Date: Saturday, 12. June 2010

The emblem on a car is more than just a symbol and it is much more than just a piece of artwork adorning every vehicle on the road. An automobile badge can provide us with a glimpse into the history and origins of a car, and by giving you a brief insight into the top 10 auto emblems, we show you just how much information can be contained in this little piece of decorative metal.

1. The BMW �propeller�

The BMW logo is said to represent a rotating aircraft propeller, tying in with the company�s origins in the aviation industry.

The Bavarian Luftwaffe flew planes painted in blue and white during World War I and the BMW logo's white and blue quarters are believed to represent a white propeller blade in motion against a blue sky.

2. The Chevrolet �bowtie�

There is a commonly held understanding as to the origins of the Chevrolet "bowtie" logo. This goes that while visiting Paris in 1907, General Motors founder William Durant saw a similar pattern on his hotel wallpaper and subsequently tore off a sample to bring home. This sample was used as the basis for an emblem that was introduced in 1913 for the car named after the race driver Louis Chevrolet.

3. The Cadillac crest

The Cadillac logo was based on the family crest of a minor aristocrat Antoine De La Mothe, Seigneur de Cadillac (Sir of Cadillac). However, De La Mothe�s aristocratic credentials and thus the authenticity of his crest have been questioned for decades. De La Mothe founded Fort Pontchartrain in 1701, which later became Detroit. It was here following a bicentenary celebration of the founding of the city that the company was named �Cadillac� in his honor.

4. The Audi rings

The Audi emblem consists of 4 interlinking rings. These rings represent the four companies of the Auto-Union consortium (an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers) established in 1936.

The initial emblem displayed the 4 company names in each ring but the modern version consists of a more simplified quartet of interlinking rings.

5. Mercedes� 3-pointed star

The three pointed star of the Mercedes logo was first used on a Daimler car, (later renamed Mercedes) in 1909, and represents the company's domination of land, sea, and air.

In 1926 Mercedes merged with Benz and a laurel wreath was added to the logo, this was removed in 1937 to create the current, more simplified logo of the encircled three pointed star.

6. Mitsubishi�s diamonds

The name Mitsubishi is a combination of the words "mitsu" (meaning three) and "hishi" (water chestnut, used in Japan to mean a diamond shape). The official translation of the name is therefore "three diamonds."

While the Mitsubishi name is a combination of two words, its' logo is a combination of two family crests. The Iwasaki family who had a crest of three stacked diamonds, acquired the shipping business of the Tosa Clan, who had a three-leaf crest. A hybrid of these two crests led to the name Mitsubishi and the current emblem of the three diamonds in a triangular motif.

7. The Ferrari Logo

The prancing horse featured on the Ferrari logo is a common emblem and appears in various guises from the coat of arms of the city of Stuttgart to the logo for the Avanti fuel group.

However, neither of these are the origins of the Ferrari badge, which is based on the emblem of the Italian air force hero of World War I, Francesco Baracca.

Baracca was said to have painted a red prancing horse on his airplanes but after his death these horses were painted in black on squadron planes as a sign of mourning.

Enzo Ferrari chose the black version on yellow background for his emblem as yellow was the color of the city of Modena where he was born.

8. The Lamborghini bull

Lamborghini was founded in 1963 by businessman Ferruccio Lamborghini, then the owner of a successful tractor factory. The bull in the emblem is said to signify the founders obsession with bullfighting and also his zodiac sign - Taurus.

Lamborghini�s interest in bull-fighting led him to name many of his company�s car models after famous fighting bulls and breeds of bull (Islero, Urraco). The Lamborghini logo is suspiciously similar to an inverted Ferrari logo and this is linked to the rivalry between the two companies.

9. Volvo�s symbol of Iron

The Volvo company was formed in 1915 for the manufacture of bearings for the automotive industry. The name literally translates as "I roll" from the Latin word "volvere".

The logo for Volvo is a circle with an arrow pointed outwards bisected by the name "Volvo" in capitals against a blue background. The circle with an arrow is the ancient symbol of Iron and also the symbol for �man�. The iron interpretation is more significant as it is said to represent the strength and history of the Swedish iron industry.

10. The Alfa Romeo crest

The Alfa Romeo emblem consists of a circle split vertically into two halves surrounded by a blue circle. The two halves of the circles consist of the coats of arms of the two ruling families of medieval Milan - a red cross on the left, and a man eating serpent on the right. The crown and red cross remain today as the symbol of the city.

The original version of the logo also had the word �Milano� across the bottom of the surrounding circle. Interestingly, in 1932 the French importer for Alfa Romeo convinced the company to use the word 'Paris' instead of' 'Milano' on all the badges of cars destined for France.� These badges are very rare and in great demand by collectors today.

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Showing 1 - 7 comments

david,

The older Cadillac crest contains birds, apparently ducks, where there are only colored rectangles

Keith 19837,

About 50 or so years ago, my great uncle(who was into emblems and such) saw my interest in cars and their logos. He gave me these snippets which I remember him reading from various publications. Apart from that I cannot give more authoritative info. Daimler still sports a 'ridged' grille top supposedly a legacy from when their radiators had fins to improve cooling. Citroen's chevrons are supposedly representative of the sharper toothed cogs used in their gear drives.Renault's 'diamond' was representative of it's unusual exhaust shape. My G/Uncle told me much the same about the marques as you have posted here.

cosmy,

BMW very very good mercedes and audi is Worse

Not Right,

The emblem evolved from the circular Rapp Motorenwerke company logo, from which the BMW company grew, combined with the white and blue colors of the flag of Bavaria, reversed to produce the BMW roundel. However, the origin of the logo being based on the movement of a propeller is in dispute, according to an article recently posted by the New York Times, quoting "At the BMW Museum in Munich, Anne Schmidt-Possiwal, explained that the blue-and-white company logo did not represent a spinning propeller, but was meant to show the colors of the Free State of Bavaria."

Jacob,

This is very interesting thing to know about the badges of the huge automotive companies.

Jake Aghajani,

The meanings of the car makers badges are very interesting.

Veszeli �d�m,