What Do the Citroën Chevrons Mean?

The tradition goes like this. André Citroën, a graduate of the École Polytechnique born in Paris in 1878, saw wooden double chevron gears in Poland and bought the patent to make them in steel. A helical gear pushes sideways as it turns, but a second gear cut in the opposite direction cancels that force, and the two together form a herringbone or chevron pattern. Early Citroën cars did use herringbone bevel gears in the rear axle, and the logo is read as a graphic of that gear.

Be careful with the details, though. Accounts disagree on how he got the rights, whether by a visit to Poland, from a relative or on a family trip, and the 1900 date and the claim that he invented the gear appear only in secondary sources. Grace's Guide notes that some sources claim he invented double helical gears, which other accounts do not establish. What holds up is the pairing of a gear business and a chevron badge, which is why the story has lasted.

Automobiles Citroën was founded on 4 June 1919, and the earliest archived badge, introduced with the first car, shows two yellow chevrons inside a tall oval with a blue band and a yellow outline. In the 1920s the badge was set on a navy field with clipped corners and thicker, more angular chevrons. Before the Second World War it is generally remembered as yellow on blue. After the war the chevrons turned into sharper herringbones, usually on a lighter background.

The sources consulted quote no statement from André Citroën explaining the badge, so the gear link remains the accepted reading rather than company doctrine.

The badge has been repainted many times. In 1932 a round version put gold chevrons behind a white swan on dark waves, with a banner reading "moteur flottant" above the name. In 1985 the chevrons turned white on a red square above a heavy black wordmark, when the company wanted to project dynamism. A 3D metallic version arrived on 5 February 2009 for the 90th anniversary, and a flat gray version followed in October 2016 as flat design took over.

Through all of it the two chevrons themselves never left.

In 2022 the brand unveiled a new badge that puts two chevrons inside a tall oval again, described by Wikipedia as a modern representation of the 1919 logo. The name sits underneath in wide-spaced capitals, in black and white. The year before, Citroën had become part of Stellantis.

Nothing in the sources consulted gives a new meaning to the 2022 badge, which is presented as a return to the original, not a new idea.