Car logos from A to Z

A field guide to car badges

A car logo has a tough job. It has to work on a grille, a steering wheel, a key and a phone screen, and it has to be recognised at a glance. Behind most of these small pieces of chrome there is a story about a family, a city or a very particular idea. This directory collects them, brand by brand, from the oldest names in motoring to new electric makers.

Coats of arms and city symbols

Many badges borrow from heraldry. The Alfa Romeo logo pairs the red cross of Milan with the Biscione, the serpent of the Visconti family. Scania took its griffin from the coat of arms of the Swedish province of Skåne, and Koenigsegg wears a shield based on the founder’s family arms.

Animals with a reason

Animals are everywhere on car badges, and they are rarely random. Lamborghini chose a bull because it was Ferruccio Lamborghini’s zodiac sign. The Holden lion rolls a stone, a nod to a fable about how the wheel was invented. Wiesmann went for a gecko, because its cars were meant to stick to the road.

Letters, names and initials

Some logos are simply a name, cleverly drawn. The Mazda emblem is a letter M shaped like a pair of wings. Every Lotus badge still carries the initials of founder Colin Chapman. Maybach has used its double M since 1918, and the Perodua name comes from the Malay word for second.

Wings, propellers and lightning

A surprising number of carmakers started out in the air or on the road with other vehicles. Spyker built aircraft as well as cars, which is why its badge crosses a propeller with a wheel. Maybach built engines for Zeppelin airships before it built a car. The Opel lightning bolt even took its name from a delivery truck.

How to use this directory

Search for a brand by name, or narrow the wall of logos by region, by the era a brand was founded, by type (mainstream, luxury, sports, off-road, commercial or electric) and by first letter. You can also show only brands that are no longer made. Each logo opens a page about that brand, with what the emblem means, how it changed over the years, where the company came from, its landmark models and quick facts such as country, founding year and founder.

Interested in the craft itself? Read how car logos are designed, or travel back in time with our classic car logos.