47 answers
Car Logo Meanings
Short, sourced answers to the questions people ask about badges: why Ferrari has a horse, what the Mercedes star stands for, why Ford is blue. Where a brand has never explained a detail, the page says so.
39 pages
What the symbol means
Why Does Abarth Have a Scorpion on Its Logo?
The Abarth scorpion has one documented reason. It was the astrological sign of the founder, Carlo Abarth, who put it on the company's cars from the start.
What Is the Snake on the Alfa Romeo Logo?
The snake with a person in its mouth is the biscione, a medieval emblem of Milan's ruling family, and the red cross beside it is the symbol of the city. Here is what each part means, who drew the badge, and which parts are legend.
Why Does Aston Martin Have Wings on Its Logo?
Aston Martin's own history says the wings stand for speed, and a later redesign is usually tied to the Egyptian scarab. Here is what is documented, what is repeated, and what nobody has recorded.
What Do the Four Audi Rings Mean?
Each ring stands for a company that merged into Auto Union in 1932. Here is which four they were, why the rings were mostly a racing badge before the war, and which popular stories are not documented.
What Do the Bentley Wings Mean?
The winged B was drawn in 1919 by an artist friend of the founder, and Bentley has never published an official meaning for the wings. Here is what is known, and where the popular stories stop being evidence.
What Does the BMW Logo Mean? Is It a Propeller?
The blue and white quarters are Bavarian colors, not a spinning propeller. Here is where the roundel came from, why the propeller story took hold, and what is documented.
What Do the Dots and EB Mean in the Bugatti Logo?
EB is easy, because it is the founder's initials. The dots are harder, and the only explanation on record comes from the company itself and is told as a legend.
What Do the Three Shields in the Buick Logo Mean?
The Buick tri-shield started as one shield taken from a Scottish family's coat of arms, then split into three to stand for three cars. Here is what is documented, where sources disagree, and what Buick never said.
What Does the Cadillac Crest Mean?
The Cadillac badge is a coat of arms, and it belonged to the man who founded Detroit, or at least to the man who gave himself that coat of arms. Here is what each part is, and why the wreath and the birds are gone.
What Is the Chevy Bowtie and Where Did It Come From?
Nobody can say for certain where the Chevrolet bowtie came from, and General Motors has told more than one version itself. Here are the three competing stories and the few facts that are not in dispute.
What Does the Chrysler Logo Mean? The Pentastar and the Wings
Chrysler has worn two famous badges, the five-triangle Pentastar and a pair of silver wings. One has a designer who said it meant nothing in particular, and the other has no published explanation at all.
What Do the Citroën Chevrons Mean?
Two stacked chevrons have marked Citroën cars since 1919, and the usual story starts with a gear. Here is the version that encyclopedias repeat, where the details wobble, and how the badge changed.
Why Do Dodge and Ram Trucks Have a Ram's Head?
The ram began as a chrome hood ornament sculpted for Dodge in the early 1930s. It later became a shield badge, and when Ram split off as its own truck brand it took the ram with it. Here is who made it, why a ram, and which brand wears it now.
What Does the Horse on the Ferrari Logo Mean?
The black Prancing Horse began as the emblem of an Italian fighter pilot, and the yellow behind it is the color of Enzo Ferrari's hometown. Here is what each part of the badge says and where it came from.
Why Does Genesis Have Wings on Its Logo?
Genesis never published a reason for its outstretched wings. Here is what is documented about the badge, what is interpretation, and how the wing shape shows up on the cars.
What Does the Honda Logo Mean?
Honda has two badges. The H on its cars is simple, because it is the first letter of the founder's surname. The wing on its motorcycles has a longer, better documented history.
Why Is There a Leaping Jaguar on the Jaguar Logo?
The cat is a picture of the animal the company is named after. The pose came from a chrome bonnet mascot of 1938, and the company has never said much more about it than speed and grace.
What Is the Koenigsegg Logo?
Koenigsegg has two emblems. A shield taken from a medieval family coat of arms is the logo, and a small ghost taken from a Swedish Air Force squadron sits on the car.
Why Does Lamborghini Have a Bull on Its Logo?
The raging bull goes back to a 1962 visit to a Spanish fighting-bull ranch, and the founder's own star sign gets a mention too. Here is what is documented, what is not, and how the bull spread into the model names.
What Does the Lancia Logo Mean? Lance, Flag and Steering Wheel
The Lancia badge is a picture pun. Lancia is the founder's surname and also the Italian word for lance, and a count drew the first version in 1911.
What Do the Letters ACBC in the Lotus Logo Mean?
The four interlocked letters in the middle of the Lotus badge are not a model code or a motto. They are the full name of the man who founded the company.
Why Does Mack Have a Bulldog on Its Trucks?
The Mack bulldog started as a nickname given to a blunt-nosed truck on the Western Front. A company engineer then carved it into a hood ornament that has ridden on Mack hoods ever since.
What Does the Maserati Trident Mean?
The three-pronged trident on every Maserati was borrowed from a bronze statue of Neptune in the brothers' home city, Bologna. Here is the documented story, what is disputed, and how the badge changed.
What Does the Mazda Logo Mean?
The Mazda badge is a winged M in an oval, adopted in 1997. The name behind it is older and has its own story, and the wings have been part of Mazda marks since the 1930s.
What Does the Mercedes-Benz Star Mean?
The three points stand for land, water and air, and the idea started as a doodle on a postcard. Here is how the star became a trademark and why a ring and laurels were added.
What Do the Mitsubishi Diamonds Mean?
The three red diamonds are literally the company's name, and they came from two family crests in 19th-century Japan, almost a century before the car company existed. Here is the documented story and the part nobody has explained.
What Does the Opel Lightning Bolt Mean?
The Opel bolt did not start on a car. It started on a truck named Blitz, German for lightning, and it replaced an airship in a ring.
Why Does Peugeot Have a Lion on Its Logo?
The lion was there before the cars. It was a trademark for saw blades, filed in 1858, and it has been redrawn about a dozen times since. Here is what it was meant to say and how it ended up in a black shield.
What Is the Horse on the Porsche Logo?
The black horse is the steed from the coat of arms of Stuttgart, set inside the arms of Württemberg. Here is what each part of the crest comes from, and what Porsche has never explained.
What Is the Renault Diamond?
The Renault diamond is called the lozenge, and it has been the company's badge since 1925. Renault has never said why that shape, so here is what is recorded, who redrew it, and what is guesswork.
What Does the Rolls-Royce RR Logo Mean?
The two interlocked Rs stand for two men, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. Here is what the badge says, why it turned from red to black in 1933, and why the winged lady on the hood is a different mark.
Why Does Saab Have a Griffin on Its Logo?
A car company that began as an aircraft maker ended up wearing a truck maker's griffin. Here is how the Scania griffin landed on the Saab hood, and what the badge looked like before it.
What Is the Winged Arrow in the Škoda Logo?
A feathered arrow inside a circle has stood for Škoda for about a century. The company gives a meaning for each part, and a popular story about a feathered headdress is only a story.
What Are the Stars in the Subaru Logo?
Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster, and the badge shows it. Here is why there are six stars, how they connect to the five companies behind the brand, and what nobody has officially explained.
What Does the Tesla Logo Mean?
The red T is a cross-section of an electric motor, according to Elon Musk himself. Here is what each stroke is said to represent, what the logo looked like before it, and what Tesla has never explained.
What Does the Toyota Logo Mean?
Three ovals form a stylized T, and Toyota itself has said what they stand for. Here is the company's own reading, the older logos it replaced in 1989, and which popular claims are unofficial.
Why Does Vauxhall Have a Griffin on Its Logo?
The griffin comes from a thirteenth-century soldier whose London house gave Vauxhall its name. The link is real, but the heraldry behind it is shakier than the company's own story suggests.
What Does the VW Logo Mean?
The VW is the plainest logo explanation in the car world, two initials in a circle. The harder question is who drew it, and the honest answer is that nobody can say for sure.
What Is the Arrow Symbol in the Volvo Logo?
The circle with an arrow is an old sign for iron, and the diagonal bar on Volvo grilles started as a very practical support. Here is what is documented and what is only tradition.
8 pages
Why the color
Why Are Ferraris Red?
Ferrari did not invent its red. It inherited it from a racing color code written for the first international races, long before Enzo Ferrari built his own cars.
Why Is Aston Martin Green?
Aston Martin is not green because of its logo, which is black and white today. The green is British racing green, a color that goes back to a 1903 race in Ireland, and the company has tied it to its racing cars ever since.
Why Is the BMW Logo Blue and White?
The blue and white quarters match the colors of Bavaria, the state BMW is named after. The spinning-propeller story that gets repeated everywhere came later.
Why Is the Chevy Bowtie Gold?
The gold bowtie is newer than most people think. For decades Chevrolet used blue, gold and other colors at once, and one gold version only became the standard in the 2000s.
Why Is the Ferrari Logo Yellow?
Behind the black horse is a canary yellow that Enzo Ferrari tied to his hometown. This page follows that one color, where it comes from, where it shows up and what is documented.
Why Is the Fiat Logo Red?
Fiat did not start out red. Its early badges were brass, blue and gold, and red took over in the 1920s and 1930s, at the same time Italy was settling on red as its racing color. Here is what is documented and what is not.
Why Is the Ford Logo Blue?
Ford has never published a reason for its blue. What the record does show is a black Model T, a 1927 Model A that carried the first blue oval, and a lot of tidy explanations added later.
Why Is the Lotus Logo Yellow and Green?
The green half of the Lotus badge has a clear background in British racing green. The yellow half has no explanation from Lotus, and this page separates what is documented from what is only assumed.
Looking for a whole family of symbols? See the logo collections. /car-logos