The founders of the brands realized very early that their seal, their logo, was as important as their own cars. Most of the symbols come from the beginnings of each brand and some have a more romantic origin than one might expect. Do you want to discover the most striking ones? Keep reading…
The founders of the brands realized very early that their seal, their logo, was as important as their own cars. Most of the symbols come from the beginnings of each brand and some have a more romantic origin than one might expect. Do you want to discover the most striking ones? Keep reading…
Over the years, they have been the source of many legal disputes. Showing them off was the pride of those who, in those years at the beginning and middle of the last century, could boast of the privilege of having a car. Even today, some of them constitute the material with which the dreams of many are built. The founders of the brands realized very early that their seal, their logo, was as important as their own cars. To the point that once, when someone asked Henry Ford What would he take to a desert island, he answered without hesitation: “I would only take my brand logo”.
Each of the manufacturers’ symbols has a different origin, which has its roots in the personal history of those who gave a fundamental boost to the automobile industry. Therefore, those of us who love cars can also proudly show off the small piece of history that we carry on the grille. Even if this is not a brash horse or the weapon of an ancient god.
Alfa Romeo
Alpha means Anonymous Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. Since 1910, he has carried in his logo the symbols of the city of Milan: the red cross on a white background and the snake devouring a human figure – the son of a Saracen -, in turn an emblem of the family. Visconti and heritage from the time of the crusades. In 1915, the company was acquired by Nicola Romeo and he included his surname on the shield.
Fangio forged his legend in an Alfa
Aston Martin
The name of the brand comes from the surname of one of its two founders, the young Lionel Martin. They also included the one from the first competition they won: Aston Hill Climbin 1915. In 1928, they decided to embed the brand in a pair of wings to give strength to the logo, which did not appear on any model until the legendary Mark II 1934 and, since then, it has hardly changed.
Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin
Audi
Audi is the Latin translation of Horch (listen!), last name of its founder, from whom the original company was taken. In 1932, August Horch he managed to merge his new company with the Horch, D.K.W. and Wanderer to become the Auto Union until, in 1969, with the incorporation of NSU, it was renamed Audi AG. The four rings represent each of the brand’s four parent companies.
Audi in the Liège-Rome-Liège of 1939
bmw
The Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian motor factory) bmw, was founded in 1913 to build aviation engines. The brand logo symbolizes a moving propeller with the blue sky in the background, which in turn represents the colors of the Bavarian flag. At the end of the first war, they began manufacturing motorcycles and, in 1929, they launched their first car, the BMW 3/15.
The first car produced by BMW
cadillac
The most aristocratic American car brand also has a supposedly noble logo. Name and coat of arms were adopted from the French explorer and soldier, Antoine Lamuetself-proclaimed “de la Mothe and Lord of Cadillac”, after founding detroit in 1701. A coat of arms was also invented, which has always been the logo of the brand, although with successive simplifications.
First Cadillac prototype, in 1903
Citroen
Andre Citroen He started in the industry creating gears and later, when during the First World War went on to manufacture buses, began to dream of also building cars. As a proud inventor, responsible for Europe’s first assembly line, Citroen chose one of his patents, helical gears, to draw the famous “chevron” that adorns their cars.
André Citroën, in one of its plants
Ferrari
Count Francesco Baracca was the Red Baron Italian during the First World War, in which the family Ferrari suffered the loss of several members. His plane had the emblem painted on it. the Baracca: a black horse raised on its hind legs with its mane blowing in the wind. In 1923, Enzo He won a race at the Savio circuit in Ravenna. Then, Countess Baracca asked him to wear her son’s emblem during the war. Apparently, the horse had brought him luck, since on one occasion when he was knocked down he managed to escape unscathed. The sports ones Ferrari They did not appear until 1947, but in 1929 the famous cavallinoto which Enzo decided to change the background to yellow, the official color of the city of Modena, where he was born and decided to found his company. By the way, the acronym “S.F.” mean Scuderia Ferrari.
Baracca, next to his plane
Jaguar
The firm was founded in 1922 by two motorcycle nuts, Bill Lyons and William Walmsley. At first, they were dedicated to the manufacture of sidecars and special bodies. However, the name of his company was not the current one, but Swallow Sidecarsso the trade name they used since 1934 was SS Cars. In fact, they built some of the legendary sports cars from before the Second World War, such as the SS 100 from 1934, the year in which Walmsley He left the company. Due to the negative connotations that that name carried during World War II, after the war they decided to change their name to Jaguar, which they had already used on several exhibition and racing cars before the war. William Lyons, The true architect of the brand’s success during the 1950s, he thought that this figure would transmit the gracefulness, elegance and strength of this feline to his cars.
The type of the letters of the original logo resembled that of the German SS
Lamborghini
Ferruccio Lamborghini He was a young engineer who became rich after World War II buying vehicles from the army to transform them into tractors. A Telephone dispute with Enzo Ferrari about the 250 GT led Ferruccio to want to surpass Ferrari on their own land. In 1963, the first “lambo” was already wearing the brand’s bull, which refers to the horoscope of its founder.
The first “Lambo” was the 350 GTV
Maserati
The company was founded in 1914 by brothers Alfieri, Ettore, Ernesto and Bindo Maserati. They dedicated themselves to engine preparation, but in 1926 they began building cars and achieved great success. He tridenta weapon of antiquity, was the tool of Neptune and represented all his strength and power.
The Maseratis chose the trident as a symbol for a beautiful Neptune fountain near the one they lived in Bologna
Mazda
The word Mazda It is a mixture of the name of the founder of the brand, Jyujiro Matsuda(“tsu” in Japanese is pronounced “Z”) and the assyrian god Mazda. The brand logo has changed a lot. The last one, which represents two outstretched wings, dates back to 1997. Coincidentally or not, 3,500 years ago, the symbol of Mazda – the only god of the Assyrian religion, or Zoroastrianism – was also two outstretched wings.
The first car with a rotary engine
Mercedes
Mercedes was the daughter of Emil Jelinekjoined late to the signature. Paul and Adolf Daimler, children of one of the founders, wanted to leave their family mark. They remembered that his father had painted a three-pointed star over his house on a postcard. In it, he said that the star, a symbol of his ambition to create an engine that would drive on land, sea and air, would one day shine over his factory.
Mercedes Jelinek, at ten years old
Peugeot
The family Peugeot represents the French industrial aristocracy. Founded in 1810, since 1850 the company has used the lion as a symbol, which is also the coat of arms of the region of Franche-Comtéwhere they came from Peugeot. The original design, the work of jeweler Justin Blazer, has changed a lot. The one that can be seen in Belfort (Franche-Comté) is by Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty.
The legendary Peugeot Lion from 1909
porsche
The brand emblem, founded by engineer Ferdinand and his son Ferry Porsche in 1948, it is the mixture of two shields and has remained intact since its first production model, the Type 356/1. The superimposed shields are that of the city of Stuttgarta horse very similar to Ferrari’sand that of the region of Baden Württembergmade up of red and black stripes and deer antlers.
Ferri Porsche played like this in 1921
renault
The brand was created in 1898 as the Societé Renault Frères by Louis, Marcel and Fernand Renault. In 1923, they began to adopt geometric figures as their logo, which in 1925 became a rhombus, although without its classic patterns, which did not appear until 1972. It was the work of the English firm. Wolf Olins and its shape is simply due to the fact that it was the one that lowered the costs of its production the most.
The first Renault models
Rolls-Royce
Eleanor Velasco She was for decades the secretary and secret lover of Walter Eduard, Lord Montague. He, in turn, was the editor of The Car magazine. When, in 1910, he commissioned his friend, the sculptor Charles S. Sykescreating an ornament for your Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, He did not hesitate to use the charming Eleanor as a model. The result was a work that he called “The Whisper” and that, in 1911, the owners of Rolls-Royce, friends of Walter Eduard, chose to decorate their radiators, already with the name of “Spirit of ecstasy”. Since then, each one has been made completely by hand, breaking the molds at the end of the work, so no two are exactly the same.
Eleanor Velasco Thornton
Rover
What does a Viking ship in the logo of an English car manufacturer? The brand, founded in 1922, has since its beginnings carried the symbol of those who were the greatest enemies of those who lived in Britain. The reason is the heroism and strength of those who, a thousand years ago, sailed the Atlantic Ocean with their light ships. The emblem is the bow and the extended sail of one of them.
The first Rover, the 8HP of 1904
Photos: Manufacturer, Age Fotostock, Auto Bild Spain
