Logos of well-known automakers have their own history. Usually every letter and dash on them have its special meaning. Here are some curious stories about what the symbols on the logos of luxury car brands conceal.

Alfa Romeo

The beautiful Alfa Romeo name had rather prosaic meaning. Alfa is simply an abbreviation of the old name – Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (Lombard Automobile Factory), Romeo – the name of the Neapolitan businessman who bought the company in 1915.

Signs on the logo have a deeper meaning. The red cross on the left is an element of the coat of arms of the Italian city of Milan. A crowned viper devouring a person is a symbol of the House of Visconti, the legendary dynasty ruling this city in 1277-1447.

Aston Martin

The name of James Bond’s favorite brand came from the combination of the geographical name of Aston Hill Climb high-speed track (UK) and the name of one of the company co-founders – Lionel Martin.

Initially, the British manufacturer of luxury sports cars had a simple logo – a black and white circle with black letters A and M inscribed in it.

Gold wings of the design different from that we know now first appeared in 1927 symbolizing speed, freedom and desire for a dream. Lionel Martin spied the idea from Bentley.

Bentley

Presence of wings on the Bentley logo is quite natural, because the company began its hystory during the First World War from the production of aircraft engines.

The Bentley logo consists of three main colors: black, white and silver. White color means purity, black – superiority, silvery – sophistication. In other words, this combination is intended to demonstrate the company’s commitment to British aristocracy and superiority over others.

Bugatti

At first sight Bugatti has a simple logo – the name of the brand inscribed in a red oval delineated by dots. These dots seem to be just a design trick. But, in fact, there are exactly 60 of them, and no one knows why this is so.

The logo was coined by the famous Milan jewelry designer Carl Bugatti, the father of the car brand founder Ettore Bugatti.

The Bugatti family supports the theory that 60 dots on the logo are stylized pearls, symbolizing the precious refinement of the cars produced. But the experts prefer the version that 60 dots are 60 self-tapping bolts that fastened the body parts of the first Bugatti vehicles.

In those days there were no grovelers yet, and in order to prevent the bolts from loosening due to vibrations, they were fastened together by a tightened safety wire.

Ferrari

Ferrari has one of the most recognizable logos – a yellow shield, at the top of which there is an Italian flag, and in the middle – a black horse, standing on its hind legs. A curious story is referred to that horse, by the way.

This horse moved to the carmaker’s emblem from the fuselage of Francesco Baracca’s fighter (an Italian pilot during the First World War).

Francesco Baracca shot down in the air a German reconnaissance pilot, on whose airplane a “prancing horse” was drawn. In order to perpetuate his victory over the enemy, the Italian pilot carried over that horse to his fighter.

Enzo Ferrari liked this drawing, and he copied the black stallion to the emblem of his company. In his opinion, the horse standing on its hind legs brings luck.

Jaguar

Prior to World War II, the company was called SS Cars (Swallow Sidecars). This name after the war began to be associated with the Nazi SS troops and could not remain, so it was replaced by “Jaguar”.

There are no interesting stories behind the Jaguar logo: it was invented by designers on order, when they selected from many variants of “felines”.

Lamborghini

The design of the Lambrorghini black and gold emblem was coined by Ferruccio Lamborghini (company founder). The bull located in the center of the logo is his sign of zodiac (Taurus).

There is a legend: in order to vex his constant rival Enzo Ferrari, Ferruccio Lamborghini copied the shield of Ferrari and then changed its colors to black and yellow.

Who knows, if it’s true. Lamborghini himself claimed that the bull on the logo symbolized the strength and power of the cars produced.