Why Do Dodge and Ram Trucks Have a Ram's Head?

Avard T. Fairbanks was a sculptor who joined the University of Michigan in 1929 and had already designed the Winged Mermaid for Plymouth. Dodge commissioned him for a new radiator ornament. The ram debuted in January 1931 on the Dodge Series Eight and then appeared on the 1932 models, which is the date often quoted. Early on it sat on the radiator cap, and when 1935 styling hid the radiator, a new base turned it into a hood ornament.

Why a ram? The explanation that has been passed down from a Fairbanks family member is that rams are sure-footed, the king of the trail that nothing challenges, and that a charging ram makes a person jump back and say "Dodge!" as a joke. It is a family recollection, not a Dodge corporate statement.

The ram did not last continuously. The 1955 Forward Look Dodges were the first since 1932 without the ram hood ornament. A ram survived in name under the hood, since the Hemi V-8 was called the Red Ram through 1958, but the animal left the front of the car.

It came back on trucks. Dodge pickups were rebranded as Rams in October 1980 for the 1981 model year, and a ram's head hood ornament began to reappear on certain models in the early 1980s. Sources disagree on the exact years and models, so we do not give a precise start for the return. The ornament in the lead photo is from a 1990 pickup.

From the 1990s Dodge used a flat ram's head inside a pointed shield as its main badge, which the brand archive dates from 1993 to 2010. The head is built from flat, angular shapes with two heavy curled horns, so it reads clearly even at small sizes.

Then Ram Trucks was established in 2009 as a spin-off from Dodge, as part of Chrysler's restructuring after bankruptcy, with Fiat involved under CEO Sergio Marchionne. Wikipedia gives 2009 for the founding, and some sources say 2010 because the brand started with that model year. The ram's head moved to Ram, chrome on a black shield, and Dodge was left with a wordmark and two diagonal red stripes.

Ram, not Dodge. Ram trucks were sold as Dodge Rams until the 2010 model year, and the ram's head now belongs to Ram. Ram's current logo, from 2024, is a faceted steel-gray head without the shield, and some trucks, like the TRX shown here, carry only the RAM name on the grille. Dodge keeps cars and performance models, and has not published a meaning for its two stripes. In 2025 it also brought back an old three-bladed emblem called the Fratzog, which has no connection to the ram.

Both brands sit under the same parent, Stellantis, so the shared history can be confusing. If you are looking at a badge with a ram, it is a Ram or an older Dodge.