Car enthusiasts, have you ever wondered how the logos of famous car brands came to be?
Pop-culture website Cool Material has taken some of the most famous car brands and explained what inspired their logos.
The list includes Ferrari, Chevrolet, BMW and Lamborghini.
Check it out below:
Named after the Japanese word for the Pleiades star cluster, the Subaru six star logo represents the companies that merged together to form Fuji Heavy Industries – of which Subaru is the automotive manufacturer.
The Mercedes-Benz three pointed star logo can be traced back to 1870, when Gottlieb Daimler sent his wife a postcard with the star on it. It was his desire to see the three pointed star on top of all of their factories, indicating their triumph over “land, sea, and air”.
The “bowtie” emblem representing one of the big three in American cars actually has its roots overseas. It has been said that the “bowtie” emblem, first used in 1914 was the design of the wallpaper in a French hotel room that GM founder William Durant occupied.
In the early sixties, Ferruccio Lamborghini spent time with Don Eduardo Miura, a breeder of prized Spanish fighting bulls, at his home in Seville. These almost regal animals had such an effect on Lamborghini that he decided that the logo of his namesake would feature the raging bull.
While it has long been assumed that the BMW logo is a representation of the rotation of a propeller, that has actually been proven to be more myth than reality. The true story is that when BMW emerged as a result of a restructuring of Rapp Motorenworke, BMW wanted to maintain the dynamic of the Rapp logo and layout. Additionally, the blue and white colors are the predominate colors of the Bavarian flag. Hence the new BMW logo.
“The Volvo emblem is actually a fairly close representation of the Mars symbol, which also symbolizes the Roman God of War. Ok, so how is this related to Volvo or cars? Well, this also became a symbol of the relationship between the God of War and the metal weapons were constructed from at the time, iron. This symbol is interpreted as masculine. Since the beginning, Volvo founders wanted a symbol of strength for their cars and this certainly fit the bill.”
We saved the most interesting one for last. The elegant prancing horse is almost instantly recognizable as the symbol for Italian exotic manufacturer, Ferrari. However, this prancing horse was actually painted on the fuselage of an Italian fighter plane during World War I. The mother of the heroic fight pilot, asked Enzo Ferrari to put the prancing horse on all of his cars. She claimed it will bring good luck. Almost 100 years later, it is still there, on a bold yellow background—the color of Modena.
[via Cool Material]