What Does the Lancia Logo Mean? Lance, Flag and Steering Wheel

The badge works because of the name. Vincenzo Lancia, a Fiat racing driver, founded Lancia & C. in Turin on 27 November 1906. His surname is also the Italian word for lance, so the badge turned the name into a picture: a lance, with a flag carrying the name.

The four-spoke steering wheel behind them refers to driving. The 1911 badge also had a small hand-throttle detail on one spoke, which the 1974 redesign removed. The company has not published any further symbolic meaning, so readings about knights or speed are interpretation.

In 1910 Lancia asked Count Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, a friend and the founder of Turin's national automobile museum, for a badge. The count submitted six watercolor proposals, and Lancia chose the round one with the lance, flag and wheel. The first car to carry it was the 1911 Gamma 20 HP.

Before that, from 1907 to 1910, cars had no true badge, only a brass plaque with the maker's name and the chassis code, though some had a brass Lancia script on the grille. The round badge is still visible on the radiator of this 1920s Lambda.

The 1974 redesign came at the request of Umberto Agnelli. It restored a silver, white and blue version of the 1929 design, with the flag and lance merged into one shape and all the letters the same size. It debuted on the 1979 Delta and was used until 2006, so it is the badge on the Delta pictured, which wears Martini Racing rally-style decoration.

The 2007 redesign by Robilant Associati kept the blue shield but dropped the lance and flag for the first time since 1911. The 2022 logo, revealed with the Pu+Ra design language, keeps the 2007 color scheme and brings the flag, circle and lance theme back.