The horse was painted on the fuselage of the fighter plane of Francesco Baracca — a heroic airman of the first world war. “In ‘23, I met count Enrico Baracca, the hero’s father, and then his mother, countess Paulina, who said to me one day, ‘Ferrari, put my son’s prancing horse on your cars. It will bring you good luck’. The horse was, and still is, black, and I added the canary yellow background which is the colour of Modena [Enzo Ferrari’s birthplace].”

In 1932, the Ferrari shield appeared for the first time on the Alfa Romeo cars of the Scuderia racing team at the Grand Prix of Spa. In 1947, on the 125S — the first car produced at Maranello, the prancing horse appeared on a yellow background, and always with the Italian flag at the top. However, no longer within a shield, with the letters S and F (Scuderia Ferrari) replaced by the word Ferrari. Thus the Ferrari brand was born, and since then has been on all the cars the company produces.

Quoted from the video below, courtesy of Ferrari.

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Car-related from the archives:

The stories behind car brand names

BMW logo evolution

Mercedes logo evolution

Volvo logo background