The meaning of car logos is interesting to know. What do the emblems and names of car brands mean? The meaning of the word emblem
Choosing the right name and emblem in the automotive business is one of the most important tasks. Throughout the history of the automotive industry, a huge number of car brands have appeared in the world - there are at least a thousand of them; at the same time, no more than a hundred names are heard by motorists. Without knowing the emblems, it is not easy to understand such a variety. Each manufacturer tries to reflect the unique features of the product in its logo, while it is easy to see the general principles in the total mass of symbols. What do the emblems of famous car brands look like and what do they mean? How were the names of common cars born?
This Japanese brand appeared quite recently - in 1986. The Honda division has chosen as its symbol the image of a caliper in a circle. This tool is intended to emphasize the consistent Japanese precision when creating cars - it should be clear at first glance that the car has no flaws. This can be seen in the name - Acura is consonant with the English word accuracy - accuracy, accuracy.
In addition, the logo resembles the first letter of the brand name and a slightly modified first letter of the name of the parent company - H. The drawing is very simple, due to the complexity of selecting a unique image at the end of the 20th century, but it has many possible meanings.
Alfa romeo
The Italian company took part of its logo from the coat of arms of its hometown - Milan. The left half of the round icon is a red cross on a white background. The right half - a green snake eating a man - is the coat of arms of the Italian Visconti dynasty, which ruled the country in the Middle Ages.
Aston martin
The modern Aston Martin logo appeared in 1927. It represents the spread eagle's wings - a symbol of speed and pride. This choice of the emblem is connected with the fact that the company was going to produce fast sports cars. Because of this, the old icon - the woven letters A and M - have been replaced with a stylized bird.
Even a person far from the automotive world recognizes at first glance the four rings, the symbol of the German company Audi. The closed circles mark the merger of the founding companies in 1932: Audi, Horch, Wanderer and Dampf Kraft Wagen. The last three disappeared after the war, while Audi rose from the ashes in 1965 and borrowed the old logo.
There are three variations of the Bentley winged logo: the letter B on a green background is for sports cars, on a red one for luxury cars, and a black background is a symbol of power. Eagle wings, borrowed by Italians, mean, like Aston Martin, speed and majesty.
The circle with blue and white sectors in a black ring with BMW letters is as familiar to everyone as Audi rings. The meaning of the symbol is twofold: on the one hand, the circle resembles a rotating airplane propeller - it reminds both of the speed and the history of BMW associated with the production of aircraft engines. On the other hand, the white and blue colors are a tribute to the flag of Bavaria, where the company is located. In general, the logo has remained practically unchanged since its inception in 1920 - only the font of the letters changed in the middle of the 20th century.
Brilliance
Brilliance translated from English means brilliance, brightness. It is these machines that the Chinese company produces, despite their low cost. The logo of the brand is quite simple - it means the same thing, only in the form of Chinese characters.
The red oval of the emblem is bordered with pearls - it immediately becomes clear that this is due to the luxury of the cars produced by the company. The name of the company is the name of its founder, Ettore Bugatti.
Buick is a division of the American company General Motors, founded by the Scots. Like other proud British families, David Buick, the founder of Buick, had his family crest - three shields in red, white and blue - which was taken as the logo of the car brand.
In the BYD logo, the naked eye can see the purest rip-off from BMW. The emblem is noticeably simplified - there is no volume, the circle is divided into only two parts. History, of course, has nothing to do with this. The distortion of the popular brand did not affect the popularity of the Chinese company in any way - its cars are among the most common in Europe.
Cadillac
American Cadillac cars are known worldwide as an elite class vehicle. Cadillacs are produced in Detroit - the industrial capital of the United States. This city was founded in 1701 by the Frenchman Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, whose family coat of arms was taken as the emblem of the automobile brand.
Chery is not a misspelling of the word cherry as one might think; the company name is a Chinese word for prosperity. The logo is again ambiguous. You can see two letters C surrounding the letter A - this is an abbreviation of the full name of the corporation, Chery Automobile Corporation. If you look closely, you can see the clasped hands, symbolizing strength and strength. Another option - the letter A in the center of the logo means a road going into the distance.
Chevrolet
The brand name is simple - it was named after the French racer Louis Chevrolet, who agreed to use his name in the name of an American corporation in 1911.
The meaning of the General Motors logo is more difficult to determine. There are several versions. According to the official history, the golden cross symbolizes a bow tie associated with wealth, high society. It is also rumored that the founder of the company, William Durant, saw a similar cross on the wallpaper in the hotel. Another opinion expressed by his wife is that Durant adapted someone else's logo he liked, which he saw in the morning newspaper.
Chrysler
Chrysler has a very standard icon for luxury cars in the form of wings, symbolizing speed, dynamism. The name of the firm is the surname of its founder, Walter Chrysler, one of the iconic figures in the automotive world. He created a company that brought together many famous car brands and became vice president of General Motors. Chrysler enjoyed the greatest popularity at the beginning of the 20th century - one of the most famous skyscrapers in New York, the Chrysler Building, was even built for the company. Today, the company has somewhat lost ground and produces family cars, being a division of the Fiat plant.
The two inverted Vs are symbols that are fairly common in heraldry. But in this case, the emblem has a special historical significance. The founder of the company, André Citroën, began his career in a workshop that produced parts for steam locomotives. Soon he began production of gear wheels, a schematic representation of which was used as the logo of the automobile company founded by the engineer.
Dacia is one of the oldest names on our list. Dacia in ancient times was the name of the territory on which Romania is located today. The Romanian automobile plant borrowed this name from the ancient Romans, who called the lands of the Dacian tribes Dacia. These people worshiped animal totems - the wolf and the dragon, and their warriors wore scale armor. The scale also became the emblem of the car, also resembling an inverted letter D. The silver shade was chosen in honor of the parent company - Renault.
According to the main version, the Koreans chose a seashell as the logo for Daewoo. However, with the name of the company, which translates from Korean as "great universe", the version that the auto badge symbolizes the opened lily flower fits better. Lily has always been associated with purity, majesty, beauty.
Daihatsu
The company badge is the elongated initial of the brand name, resembling a bullet - a symbol of speed. You can also see an airplane wing in this figure. In general, elongation is associated with acceleration as well as compactness.
The name is more difficult to figure out, since it is associated with the peculiarities of the Japanese language. The company is located in Osaka, which is reflected in the name, which consists of two hieroglyphs - dai and hatsu. The first is taken from the name of the city, and the second from the phrase "car production". Thus, literally Daihatsu can be adapted into Russian, like the banal "Osaka Automobile Plant".
Dodge is known for its muscle cars with enormous power. It is not surprising that the head of a mountain goat with huge horns was chosen as the emblem of the brand. However, in 2010 the logo changed - it is now the simple name of the company founded by the Dodge brothers in 1900, adorned with red slanted lines. Because red goes faster.
FAW stands for First Automotive Corporation. It can be seen that the Chinese did not bother too much not only with the name, but also with the logo - it shows the number 1. Eagle's wings are also called upon to represent the company as a leader - like a bird, FAW spreads its huge wings and shows its superiority.
In the case of Ferrari, the associative array when looking at the emblem is simple: stallion - gallop - speed - racing cars. So? But no. The horse in the logo does not mean that at all.
Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the company, was a fan of, so to speak, the military pilot of the First World War, Francesco Barak. He was an ace, and, like all professionals in his field, he had his own identification mark - a black horse painted on the body of the plane. This horse was depicted by Ferrari on the logo of his car, taking as a background the yellow color associated with Enzo's hometown of Modena. The top of the emblem is decorated with stripes of the Italian flag.
The Fiat brand name is an abbreviation for the location of the factory. Italian automobile factory in the city of Turin - this is how it stands and is translated into Russian. It was decided to shorten the name in order to fit it into the emblem in 1901. The shape of the logo has changed constantly over the last century. Today the badge is made in the spirit of previous versions - a round chrome edging with a crimson rounded trapezoid in the center. Pride in its history distinguishes this Italian company.
The Ford emblem is one of the simplest on our list. The surname of the founding father of the company and the legislator of the automotive industry as a whole is written in beautiful type and inscribed in a blue oval. Minimalistic, practical, impossible not to recognize - ideal.
The Polish passenger car factory took a simple path and took its abbreviation as its name. Until 2010, the plant produced cars under the Daewoo brand, but in recent years it has acquired its own production line.
The company emblem is simple and elegant - in the center of the white letter O on a red background letters F and S merged. Red is a symbol of power, challenge.
The Chinese company Geely did not fail to associate itself with grandeur. The white element of the emblem can be associated with a bird's wing, but still it means a mountain (possibly Everest itself) against the background of a piercingly clear sky. The name of the company is translated from Chinese as "happiness".
And again the abbreviation. Behind three simple letters hides not someone there, but General Motors - the largest automotive corporation not only in the United States, but until 2008 throughout the world. The company was created by the ambitious Grabowski brothers, who started with the creation of one truck, and united the small car factories of the whole state of Michigan under a single umbrella.
Great wall
"Great Wall" - the name immediately makes it clear where this brand of cars comes from. The logo is a schematic representation of the battlements of that great wall. The emblem has been used since 2007 and is intended to remind of patriotism, combined with majesty and unshakable grace.
The name of the company is the surname of its founder, Japanese Soichiro Honda. The emblem is a straight letter H. Not to be confused with an oblique H - this is already Hyundai!
Hummer cars are no longer in production - since 2010 the conveyor has stopped working. But it will be possible to meet them for a long time. The name of the brand is the abbreviation HMMWV adapted for better euphony - a multi-purpose wheeled vehicle of increased mobility, model 998. It is immediately clear that the car is of military origin - indeed, Hummers are widely used by the US Army in ground operations. They became available to civilians in 1979. The car emblem is simply the name of the brand; there is no need to expect anything more stylish from the military.
Hyundai, Hyundai, Hyundai - as soon as they do not call these cars. In fact, the Korean word Hyundai reads "handi". The company embodies the whole spirit of South Korea - the desire for modernity, high technology, and its name is translated this way - "new time". The emblem is a graceful oblique letter H. It looks like Russian And it is similar because it should symbolize the shaking of hands, which looks exactly like that in the minds of Koreans.
Infiniti
Infinity is infinity, into which the road depicted on the brand's logo goes. It was decided to abandon the original version - the infinity sign familiar to everyone in the form of an inverted eight. And in vain - so the emblem would be more unique; the road stretching beyond the horizon is found in at least three more brands, as we have already seen.
Isuzu is an ancient company, even by the standards of the automotive industry, founded in 1889. The construction of cars began only in 1916, when the use of diesel engines began in cars. The company received its modern name in 1934 - it was named after the Japanese river Isuzu. The emblem is reminiscent of the letter I, growing skyward, like a ceaselessly expanding company.
When Jaguar Cars was founded in Britain, there was obviously no question of logo selection. The stylized wild cat, symbolizing grace, speed, grace, was created by the artist Gordon Crosby. The jaguar-shaped nameplate, however, is rare for safety reasons, but the brand name can be found on the hood of any Jaguar.
The Jeep emblem is simple - it represents the company's name in the most unremarkable style. But the name is very interesting, at least because it has become a household name. Initially, this word was simply consonant with the abbreviation GP - general purpose machine.
The KIA emblem is an abbreviation on a cherry background with chrome oval trim. This shape is a symbol of the globe, which speaks of the company's goals to become a leader in the global automotive market. And the name speaks about it - it stands for “to go out into the world from Asia”.
Koenigsegg
Probably, few have met Swedish Koenigsegg cars on Russian roads. The plant produces sports cars in small quantities, exclusively on order in exclusive versions. The company is young, founded in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg, who used his family coat of arms in the logo of the company - gold and orange rhombuses in blue edging.
Lamborghini
Lamborghini is a division of Audi AG, part of the Volkswagen concern. The company is engaged in the production of elite supercars, which everyone dreams of, but saw in real life only a couple of times.
The name is the surname of Feruccio Lamborghini, who became a car manufacturer, starting with the creation of tractors. The bull on the emblem is easy to associate with this story - tractors have just replaced these strong animals. In addition, Taurus is the constellation under which the founder of the company was born. Lamborghini's passion for bulls is also emphasized by the names of the lineup - Diablo, Murcielago, Gallardo and other famous supercars are named after bulls participating in bullfights.
Land rover
Legendary SUVs Land Rover and Range Rover are the brainchild of the British car manufacturer, a division of the American company Ford. The name speaks for itself: land - land and rover - all-terrain vehicle. The last word is also associated with lunar rovers, rovers and other "moves" - it becomes clear that the owner of the car will conquer any land.
The logo of the brand is simple - the name on a dark green background in a silver edging in the form of an oval, which also evokes the associations of rough terrain, which Land Rover can easily navigate.
Lexus is Toyota's premium vehicle subsidiary. The name was not chosen by chance - it is consonant with the English luxury - luxury, luxury. A truly luxurious car does not need an overly pretentious emblem - it is a smoothed letter L, inscribed in a circle. Elegance in every line is the hallmark of these cars.
The Chinese firm Lifan produces a wide range of vehicles, from light scooters to huge buses. On our roads, however, you can find only cars.
The name of the company is translated from Chinese as "to sail in full sail." It is logical that the emblem also depicts sails - three pieces of blue. Ironically, sailing ships actually go at the speed of a walking person.
Lincoln cars are very prestigious, and the goal of the company's founders was worldwide recognition. The brand's emblem says exactly that - it is a stylized compass with arrows pointing in all 4 directions. The firm is part of the Ford plant and is named after Abraham Lincoln, the American president for whom the founder gave his first vote.
Maserati
The premium sports car company was founded by the Maserati brothers. The logo is based on the coat of arms of their hometown, Bologna, which is colored red and blue. The trident of Neptune was taken in honor of the statue of this god in the central square of the city.
The full face of a flying bird with spread wings is an obvious symbol of speed and freedom. An open flower can also be seen in the Mazda logo. Perhaps the fluid and flexible letter M is taken from the coat of arms of Hiroshima. However, it's actually just the stylized first letter of the Japanese company name.
German Wilhelm Maybach founded a luxury car company in 1909 and named it after himself. Initially, the cars were made to order, each of them was unique, but today no company can survive without mass production.
The two woven M letters in the logo are the names of Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl, and the abbreviation for Maybach-Manufactura (yes, Maybach cars were originally assembled by hand).
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes produces almost all types of land vehicles - trucks, buses, premium cars. The company is named in honor of the daughter of an Austrian industrial tycoon, who ordered 10 cars from its founders (a fabulous sum at that time) on the condition that the cars bear this name.
The three-pointed star logo commemorates the three founders of the company - Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach and Karl Benz, whose production facilities were merged into a single corporation. In addition, the star symbolizes the presence of Mercedes products in all three areas - on land, in the sky and at sea - since the company's predecessor, Daimler, originally produced motors for aircraft and ships. The emblem was created by Daimler himself.
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi logo was created by merging the coats of arms of the company's founders - three diamonds and three oak leaves. The name of the company translates as "three diamonds", it is the red gemstones that are reflected on the emblem of the cars, which has not changed throughout the history of the company.
Initially, the logo of the Japanese automaker was traditionally Japanese - it was a red rising sun with a blue stripe on which the name of the company flaunted. Today they got rid of such brightness for the sake of modernity. The Nissan emblem is now a silver ring with a chrome stripe in the center, on which the word Nissan is written in black.
Opel is named after its founder, Adam Opel. What this company did not do - it started with the production of sewing machines, then switched to bicycles. During the war, military trucks rolled off the assembly lines. Today, the Opel brand is used for family minivans and passenger cars.
The Opel badge is a silver lightning bolt inscribed in a ring. The symbolism is not difficult to understand - it means lightning speed, speed.
The Italian corporation Pagani produces such elite cars that even the word "supercar" is too small for them - only hypercars come off the assembly lines. The company is known for producing the fastest car in the world, the Zonda F. The plant is named after Horatio Pagani, the founder of the company.
At the beginning of its existence, the French company also paid attention to bicycles, and later the production of Peugeot cars began. The company logo has changed many times, but it has always retained the traditional lion taken from the flag of the French province in which the Peugeot factory was located. Today the lion is depicted very schematically and with a touch of three dimensions.
The Porsche brand logo at first glance resembles the coat of arms of some ancient and proud country. In general, this is the case - the main part of the emblem is the coat of arms of the state of Baden-Württemberg, in which the sports car manufacturer is located. Specifically, the company is located in Stuttgart, as evidenced by the city's name in the center of the logo and the city's symbol in the form of a black horse.
Renault's logo changed even more often than Peugeot's - over more than a century of history, 12 variants of the emblem have changed. In the beginning, the logo featured the ornate initials of the Renault brothers; at one point, the company switched to tank production, and the formidable military vehicle found its place on the Renault emblem. Today the mark is a three-dimensional silver-colored diamond figure. It is easy to notice the unreality of its shape - by this the logo designer hints that Renault is ready to realize impossible ideas.
Rolls-royce
The company is named after the founders, Frederick Royce and Charles Rolls. Its emblem is minimalistic and ascetic - simple R letters superimposed on each other and framed by a black rectangle. Do not forget the nameplate that adorns the hoods of premium cars - a flying woman with her arms thrown back. This woman is a symbol of speed. Both emblems were bought by BMW, under the auspices of which Rolls-Royces are produced today.
The logo of the Swedish company Saab is a red crowned griffin, taken from the family coat of arms of the local Count von Skane, the governor of the province in which the company was founded. Today the old company does not exist - cars under this brand are produced by the Swedish concern, and the owners of the Saab name do not have the rights to the logo.
What happened to the Saab logo? The mythical winged beast migrated to trucks, the brand of which is named after the same province of Scan.
Seat is a Spanish brand whose logo is made in the form of a square cut S. The emblem is mixed silver and red, which speaks immediately about the status of the cars and inspires the confidence of buyers.
The Czech company logo is a green arrow with a huge bird's wing inscribed in a black ring. It is difficult to unravel the artist's idea, but we can say that the arrow symbolizes the speed and speed of flight. Green can represent a company's commitment to creating environmentally friendly vehicles. The eye on the wing is a symbol of looking into the future, striving to develop and introduce new technologies in the production of cars.
Subaru is a huge Japanese concern that unites six large companies from their field of heavy industry. The name refers precisely to this - translated from Japanese it means "to put together." The first cars of the plant were assembled on the basis of Renault.
The logo - six silver stars on a blue background - is an image of the Pleiades constellation, familiar to all Japanese. Six companies - six stars, everything is logical.
Suzuki is not only a passenger car manufacturer - it is much better known as a manufacturer of motorcycles and ATVs. The firm is named after Michio Suzuki, its founder. Its logo has a red Latin letter S stylized as a Japanese hieroglyph.
Tesla, named after Nikola Tesla, has started serial production of electric vehicles since 2008. Its emblem looks like a chrome shield with a name applied to it, made in a somewhat futuristic font. An additional symbol is a stylized letter T.
Toyota did not immediately start making cars. Initially, it was the production of looms and sewing machines, which is reflected in the company's emblem - it symbolizes a thread passed through the eye of a needle. Here you can also see secondary meanings - for example, the driver's hands holding the steering wheel.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German name that literally means "people's car". It is these machines, available to the general public, that are produced by the German corporation, which has united many smaller manufacturers under its name. The brand's logo - interwoven V and W in a ring - was created through an open competition won by a Porsche employee. During the reign of Hitler, the letters were intertwined in the form of a swastika - this sign was changed immediately after the defeat of Germany in the war. The factories of the company were then transferred to Britain.
The arrow and the circle represent the shield and spear. This is the sign of Mars, the Roman god of war, the symbol of iron and the emblem of the entire masculine gender. There are many meanings, but it was the second - the connection with metal - that justified the appearance of this sign on the emblem of the Swedish car brand. When the company was founded, Sweden produced the highest quality steel in the world, and this is the quality that cars should have been associated with. The chrome symbol is crossed by a blue stripe with the Volvo name.
The Gorky Automobile Plant is known for its minibuses and light trucks, as well as for the Volga series of passenger cars. Initially, the plant copied American cars of the Ford brand, and even in the emblem it could be seen - a blue oval was used, and the letter G was a copy of the letter F. A graceful deer added the plant's symbolism in 1950, and the shape of the shield was taken from the coat of arms of Nizhny Novgorod, where GAZ is located ...
In the past, a dam was depicted on the emblem of the Zaporozhye Automobile Plant, above which the stylized abbreviation ZAZ was located. The background was dark red, the image was golden - execution in the spirit of the flag of the USSR. Today, the logo is a chrome oval with an inscribed Z letter with flowing lines.
For a long time, the Likhachev plant did not have an emblem - only in 1944 the ZIL-114 designer proposed a logo that is still in use. It represents the abbreviation ZIL against the background of a rounded rectangle.
IzhAvto
Izhevsk Automobile Plant has not produced cars under its own logo since 2005. Today Lada Granta rolls off its conveyors. But you can still find the emblem on old cars. It looks very peculiar - the letters I and Ж are formed by narrow ovals, which are inscribed in a black figure.
KamAZ
Thanks to the Paris-Dakar races, KamAZ trucks are known not only in Russia and the CIS countries, but also in the West. They also recognize the emblem of the Kama Automobile Plant - a galloping horse. The horse is a symbol of great strength and power, and this is what many associate with KamAZ trucks.
Lada
The leader of the domestic auto industry is AvtoVAZ, or the Volzhsky Automobile Plant. It has a voluminous silver-blue logo, which depicts a floating boat inscribed in an oval ring. The emblem hints at the location of the plant on the banks of the Volga, which was used by merchant ships in the past. The first letter of the abbreviation can also be seen in the outlines of the VAZ symbol.
Perhaps only residents of the countries of the former Soviet Union know about LAZ. Lviv buses in the past traveled along the roads of every Soviet city. The Ukrainian Automobile Plant produced cars under a very simple emblem - a bold letter L, inscribed in a circular ring.
Moskvich
The emblem of this car brand, produced at the plant of the same name, which went bankrupt in 2010, is red and represents the stylized battlements of the Kremlin walls. Both the name and the logo are associated with the capital of Russia.
The masterpiece of military and industrial style, the UAZ-469, was decorated with an emblem representing a bird inscribed in a ring. In 1981, the Ural Automobile Plant acquired a new logo - the image of a live seagull and a pentagon around it. Today, UAZ hoods are marked with a dark green emblem with the plant's abbreviation in Latin letters.
Thus, there are several basic concepts among automotive logos:
the main element most often fits into the ring;
European companies use the coats of arms of their lands;
the main trend is the association of the brand with speed and luxury;
the names of companies most often use the names of their founders.
There are a great many car emblems in the world, all manufacturers try to reflect their history, philosophy and values \u200b\u200bin the logo. Symbols change, old companies disappear, new manufacturers rise to the automobile Olympus - how many more interesting emblems will we learn in the future?
2016-09-13 (64 Votes, on average: 5,00 out of 5)Logo, sign and emblem. Terminology. Alexander Shiryshev.
Sign, logo, emblem - everyone has heard these words, many actively use them, but most of them use them for other purposes. Why is a logo called a sign, but a sign is called an emblem? Why did the designer get lost in three birches and dragged the customer there? Let's figure it out. Let's start with the logo.
“Logo (from the Greek logos - a word and typos - an imprint) is an original outline, an image of the full or abbreviated name of the company or the company's products. It is specially developed by the company in order to draw attention to it and to its products. " - Raizberg BA, Lozovsky L. Sh., Starodubtseva EB Modern economic dictionary. 5th ed., Rev. and add. - M .: INFRA-M, 2007 .-- 495 p. - (B-ka of dictionaries "INFRA-M").
“Logo (from the Greek logos - word + typos - print) is a hand-typed letter with the most common syllables or even words. Logos were used early on in typography to speed up the typing process. " - Milchin A. E. Publishing dictionary-reference book. - Ed. 3rd, rev. and additional, Electronic - M .: OLMA-Press, 2006.
“Logo (from German Logotype, English logotype - Stefanov SI Advertising and printing: experience of a dictionary-reference book. - M .: Gella-print, 2004. - 320 p.: Ill. - (Advertising technologies).
All of the above definitions agree on one thing: logo - this is some kind of indivisible combination of letters. Specifically in design - word mark... This can be the name of a company or product, typed in a ready-made font, or an original outline drawn by a designer for a given work, a calligraphic inscription, a monogram, a monogram. Obviously, it is wrong to call a trademark a logo in general, especially if it is some kind of image not associated with letters. However, you can often find an illiterate use of this term. Even at the end of the last definition, this situation is mentioned.
Logo. Alexander Shiryshev.
Sign Is a very broad concept. The simplest definition I have found explains it as "Something capable in some respect to act instead of something else, that is, being perceived by some living object, to have a meaning" (Russian Humanitarian Encyclopedic Dictionary: In 3 volumes - M .: Humanitarian publishing center VLADOS: Philological Faculty of St. Petersburg State University, 2002).
I dare to suggest that the "living object" here means a person. The latest philosophical dictionary interprets this concept even better.
“A sign - traditionally - a material, sensually perceived object (event, action or phenomenon), acting in cognition as an indication, designation or representative of another object, event, action, subjective formation. Designed to acquire, store, transform and broadcast certain information (messages). " - The latest philosophical dictionary: 3rd ed., Revised. - Minsk: Book House. 2003. - 1280 s. - (World of encyclopedias).
Based on these definitions, anything can be used as a sign. Therefore, for our specific applied case, it will be correct to clarify the concept. There are several options: graphic sign, brand name, signet, trademark, emblem, trade mark... Dictionaries are full of definitions of each of these concepts, somewhere overlapping in meanings, somewhere contradicting each other, demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of the compilers, what they are talking about, and why they are using these terms at all.
The designer needs this term for one simple reason: it is one of his products. The client needs to explain why it is, how much it costs and how it is used. Obviously, it is not very convenient to explain these things using the term "this thing". What is the name of the original Nike face? We have already figured out - the logo. How to call the famous Nike Swoosh arc? While we can answer this question, guided by the method of contradiction - this is definitely not a logo. How do you describe the situation when they are used together? Another question that a designer should know the answer to, if only because there is a corresponding section in the passport of standards and it should have a name.
Before we continue terminology, let's deal with two harmful phrases: trademark and trademark... They are borrowed from the advertising industry, which has a very mediocre relationship to identity. For advertisers, these terms are enough for communication. For a designer, they are too rough and arbitrary. First, because anything can be hidden under them. Second, adjectives trading and commodity mislead about the design service application object. After all, not only a product, company or service can have a corporate identity, but also a non-profit organization, government or educational institution, city, country, TV show, film, festival, sports team, person and much more. It's hard to imagine the phrase trademark of the Ministry of Education or grushinsky festival trademark.
The very object of the application of design services (company, product, organization, institution, country, event, etc.) will be denoted by the word the brand... In the context of this article, it doesn't matter to us that the brand is the result. Hereinafter, we will mean that the object for which we are developing a passport of corporate identity standards will sooner or later become a brand.
So, we need to designate with a term such a phenomenon as a graphic brand sign. To be sure that we understand each other, I will give specific examples: Apple Apple, McDonalds arches, Nike swoosh, Mercedes star, MTS egg, multicolored Windows window.
Of the applicants for the designation of this proprietary element, the terms remained: brand name signet graphic sign and emblem... Adjective branded concept sign does not specify, which means that the term remains as imprecise and muddy as without it. Signet - Anglicism (from English signet - sign, stamp), which also does not deepen the concept of a sign. Thus, it makes sense to consider as an exact term graphic sign and emblem.
“The emblem (from the Greek emblema - insert, convex decoration), a conditional explanation of an abstract concept, idea with the help of some image (for example, a dove - E. movement of peace supporters); often viewed as a kind of allegory. In a narrow sense - a symbolic image. " - "Great Soviet Encyclopedia".
“An emblem (from Lat. Emblema - insert, convex image) is a conditional symbolic image of a concept or idea; unlike a symbol, it does not embody the content of a concept, but only points to it. " - Raizberg B. A., Lozovsky L. Sh., Starodubtseva EB Modern economic dictionary. 5th ed., Rev. and add. - M .: INFRA-M, 2007.
"The emblem (from lat. Emblema - Stefanov S. I. Advertising and printing: the experience of a dictionary-reference book. - M .: Gella-print, 2004.
These definitions apply to the term graphic sign... However, the concept graphic sign mixes with concepts trademark, brand name and even trademark, and the phrase itself graphic sign in practice it is simply cut to sign... Sometimes the designer uses the term sign, realizing what exactly is hidden under it graphic sign, sometimes not.
Emblem. Alexander Shiryshev.
By the title of the article it is not difficult to guess which term the author is leaning towards. For many years, I have been using the term graphic sign or simply sign... But I gradually come to the conclusion that the amorphousness of these terms and the associated discrepancies are a significant obstacle in the work of an identity designer. Emblem more unambiguously emblem in short, emblem easier to understand and easier to explain to non-design people. There are no barriers to using this term. Word emblem is familiar to everyone, can easily enter into professional use and be easily perceived by the customer.
Thus, we have two terms for two different entities: emblem and logo.
Why did I delve into terminology with such tediousness? Terms are the basis of intra- and external industry communications. Both in communication with the customer and in communication with colleagues one language should be used - the language of communication of professionals. And the more accurate and richer it is, the more effective communication will be.
As one colleague accurately put it: “Think about who complicates things: the seller giving different names to different sausages, or the buyer who wants to be understood when he only says that“ give me three hundred grams of sausages ””.
I'm sure most people don't even know what the emblems on the cars represent. This article provides information on the origin and meaning of the logos of the world's major car manufacturers.
There are many ways to interpret the emblems on the web. Almost all of these versions are fictional. On the pages of one automotive forum, I came across the opinion that the Toyota emblem is a stylized image of a bull's head. Of course, it is wrong and has nothing to do with the history of the firm. It was surprising that the person who expounded this version was completely sure that he was right.
In the process of writing this article, more than two hundred different sources (including official data) were analyzed, so you can be sure of the accuracy of the information located on this page.
Audi AG (Ingolstadt, Germany)
Audi emblem - four metal rings. The interweaving of these rings symbolizes the unbreakable unity of the four founding companies: Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. In 1932, these previously independent firms were merged into an alliance - "Auto Union".
The carmaker was named after its founder, August Horch. The fact is that the word Horch (German Horch - "listen to") in translation into Latin sounds like "Audi".
Here, naturally, a question arises. Why didn't the firm get the name of the founder? The fact is that August Horch opened his own automobile company (A. Horch & Cie) in 1899. After 10 years he was outlived from his own company, and he founded a new one, already in another city, continuing to use the same brand - Horch. His former partners sued him and sued the brand, so August was forced to come up with a new company name.
Bayerische Motorenwerke (Munich, Germany)
There is a misconception that the Bayerische Motorenwerke emblem is a stylized image of a rotating airplane propeller. But in fact, the Bavarian flag is taken as the basis of the BMW logo (this is how the National Geographic channel interprets the origin of the logo).
BMW was founded by Karl Friedrich Rapp in 1913 in the Bavarian lands near the Flugmaschinenfabrik aircraft factory. Initially, the company was producing aircraft engines. In 1923, BMW produces its first motorcycle. Later, in 1929, he produces the first car under the name Dixi.
Citroen (Paris, France)
The Citroen emblem is a schematic representation of the teeth of a chevron wheel. A chevron wheel is a gear with V-shaped teeth (this structure of the teeth solves the problem of axial force, when using chevron wheels there is no need to install shafts on thrust bearings).
The company was named after its founder, André Citroen.
In 1913, André Citroën established the production of such gears, which in many ways excelled the products of competitors. This explains the choice of the logo.
Few people know that PSA Peugeot Citroen is the parent company of Citroen. The automobile company PSA Peugeot Citroen (formerly Peugeot SA) bought 38.2% of Citroen's shares in 1974, and by 1976 brought this share to 89.95% (at that time Citroen was on the verge of bankruptcy). After that, this company was created, producing cars Peugeot and Citroen.
The two brands, owned by PSA Peugeot Citroen, have independent marketing and retailing structures, but the development and production of the models is carried out by common divisions.
Infiniti (Tokyo, Japan)
At first, the designers wanted to use the infinity symbol in the emblem - the Mobius loop. But then they decided to display in the emblem the symbol of the road going to infinity, a symbol hinting at an endless path to perfection in everything.
The name of the brand is translated as infinity, infinity.
Infiniti is a subsidiary of Nissan and has an interesting history. It all started in the distant sixties of the 20th century. At this time, the Nissan car company entered the US market. The Americans sensed the benefits and began to buy inexpensive and reliable cars from the company. Soon Nissan established itself as a manufacturer of economy class cars, in this regard, it was impractical to launch cars of a higher level on the market under the same brand. For this, the Infiniti brand was created.
Mazda Motor Corporation (Hiroshima, Japan)
The emblem of this car company flaunts a stylized letter "M", depicting spread wings. The firm was named after the Zoroastrian God of Life named Ahura Mazda (aka Ohrmazd). Also, the word "Mazda" is consonant with the name of the founder, Dzudziro Matsuda (1875-1952).
The company was founded in 1920 and began its activity with the production of building materials from cork. In 1927, the company started the industrial production of automobiles.
And now about what the famous Zoom-Zoom is. Look at how children play cars, listen to what they say at the same time - "vzhzhzh-vzhzhzh". So, children in English-speaking countries do it like this - "zoom-zoom" (zoom-zoom). This is how Mazda shows the image of a brand with a sporty character that can lead the buyer to children's delight.
Mercedes-Benz (Stuttgart, Germany)
The emblem was created in the form of a three-pointed star, symbolizing the superiority of the brand in the air, on water and on land, since Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (it is the parent company for Mercedes-Benz), in addition to cars, produced engines for aviation and ships.
In 1926, a laurel wreath for victories in auto racing began to flaunt on the Mercedes emblem.
It is also interesting that the Mercedes brand got its name in honor of the daughter of one of the founders of the concern - Emil Jellinek.
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (Tokyo, Japan)
The emblem of this concern is a merger of the family crests of the founders: the Iwasaki clan (three rhombuses) and the Tosa clan (three oak leaves growing from one point).
The Mitsubishi company name consists of two Japanese words: Mitsu and Hishi. Mitsu, translated from Japanese, means the number three. The word Hishi is translated as chestnut, water nut, and it is also used to refer to a diamond shape.
I would like to note one fact - the emblem of this company has never changed and, to this day, has a pristine appearance.
Also, I think it will be interesting for you to know that Mitsubishi is not limited to the production of cars. This is a whole corporation, the range of activities of which is very wide: from paper production (Mitsubishi Paper Mills) to the production of tanks, ships and even spaceships (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries).
Opel (Rüsselsheim, Germany)
The Opel emblem features lightning.
For the first time the word Blitz appears on bicycles and sewing machines (at that time the company did not make cars yet) Adam Opel in 1890. Blitz (translated from German - lightning fast, fast) symbolizes lightning speed and speed.
Renault S. A. (Paris, France)
The Renault emblem, since 1925, is shaped like a stylized diamond. The modern version of the logo was introduced by Victor Vasarely in 1972. And the first Renault logo was drawn in 1900, it contained the initials of the three Renault brothers: Louis, Ferdinand and Marcel.
At the age of 21, Louis Renault designed his first car in the yard of his parents' house. Soon he began to receive orders for cars and in 1898, with his brothers and friends, he founded Societe Renault Freres in Boulogne-Billancourt (this is a western suburb of Paris).
Škoda Auto (Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic)
The Skoda emblem depicts an arrow, on the arrow the tip of a bird's wing with a circle (eye).
Symbols of logo elements:
- The wing symbolizes the scope of the company's car production and sales program around the world, the versatility of production;
- The circle (eye) on the wing indicates precision in production and open-mindedness;
- The boom is a symbol of progressive production methods and high productivity;
- The large circle (ring) symbolizes the perfection of products, the versatility of production, the globe, the world;
- Black indicates centuries-old traditions;
- Green indicates that the company cares about the environment.
Subaru (Tokyo, Japan)
In the constellation Taurus, there is a cluster of stars called Subaru (this is the Japanese name, in the west it is called the Pleiades). In this constellation, with the naked eye, 6 stars are visible, which we see on the company logo, only they are not located as in the cluster.
A bit of history: Subaru is a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), which is engaged in aircraft manufacturing. The head of the company, Kenji kita, was an ardent supporter of car manufacturing and was very passionate about it. He held a competition to choose a name for the P-1 car (the first prototype of a passenger car produced by the company in 1954), but none of the proposed options interested him. Then he gave him a name that he had for a long time in his heart - Subaru. This name, in Japanese, is consonant with the word Mitsuraboshi, which literally means six stars. Another interesting fact is that FHI was formed by the merger of exactly 6 companies.
Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota, Japan)
Officially, the Toyota logo is a stylized weaving loop. There is also a misconception that the emblem is an image of a sewing needle through which a thread is threaded.
It is difficult to grasp the connection between the largest auto company in the world and loops without knowing its history. The fact is that Toyoda (Toyoda Automatic Loom Works - that was the name of the company earlier, it got its name from the name of the head Kiichiro Toyeda) began its activity as a company for the production of automatic looms.
Toyota Motor Corporation was founded as an independent company in 1937. As you can see, its name has been changed. There were three reasons for this, namely:
- Convenience of pronunciation;
- The word Toyota, written in the Japanese alphabet, consists of 8 strokes (toyota in hieroglyphs). According to the heads of the company, this name turned out to be more apt, since it is believed that the number 8 brings good luck;
- If you divide the word Toyota into toyo (abundance) and ta (rice), you get the expression "zoom-zoom", and in the east it symbolizes wealth. Some sources have another version of the translation of the word toyo - the eastern ocean (to - east, yo - ocean).
Volkswagen (Wolfsburg, Germany)
Bulk carrier pipe “Galata Star” of “Pacmar Shipping” company. It can be seen that there was a different emblem on the pipe earlier, which was worn out or cut off and painted over - earlier the ship belonged to another company. With the change of company, the emblem on the ship's pipe is also changed.
Emblems must certainly be clear and simple, the viewer must see in them what they wanted to say; on the contrary, he puts content in the symbol, which can be completely independent of the artist's intentions. A symbol is the embodiment of an idea, emblem - a conventional sign replacing it, its hieroglyph. The symbol expresses a wavering, indefinite group of experienced impressions, which for the artist himself does not exist in the form of an abstract generalization, because the artist thinks in images, and does not come up with them for the allegorical expression of an idea. Where the distraction is translated into the form of a material allegory, we have emblem: this is not a symbol, but an allegory - a prosaic scheme, a ready-made idea, dressed in the shell of a real image.
Therefore, Michelangelo's "Night" or the bas-relief depicted by Ivan Turgenev in the prose poem "Necessitas-Vis-Libertas" is not emblems, and symbols that give the movement of thought, complicating it. The word έμβλήμα among the Greeks and Romans meant embossed decorations on an object made of another material, for example, a silver figure on a bronze vase, then all sorts of typesetting art and craft works, such as mosaic floors, things made of heterogeneous and multi-colored material, embroidery on the borders of clothes , decorative groups of objects in wall painting, decoration on furniture, etc.
Its modern meaning is a word emblem received only in the XVI-XVII centuries, when allegories were very popular and when in emblems shifted all areas of knowledge, from theology to physics, from politics to grammar. The bibliography pays special attention to a variety of collections emblems, usually superbly published and interesting for the history of decorative arts. Were especially popular "Emblems" Milanese Alziata (), up to 130 editions in different European countries. We have had success " Emblems and Symbols ”by NM Maksimovich-Ambodik, about whose role in the education of little Lavretsky Ivan Turgenev speaks with such warmth. Compilations emblems for various applications in applied arts are published now.
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Synonyms:- Sumerian calendar
- Ebola (disambiguation)
See what "Emblem" is in other dictionaries:
EMBLEM - (Greek emblema relief work). A material image of some abstract concept; symbol; e.g. anchor of hope, cross of faith. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov AN, 1910. EMBLEM, Greek. emblema, from ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
emblem - Cm … Synonym dictionary
emblem - s, w. emblème m., it. Emblem, lat. emblema c. emblema insert, convex decoration. Object or image of what l. subject as a symbol expressing what l. idea, concept. BASS 1. Also against this theater a shield is made, on which ... ... Historical Dictionary of Russian Gallicisms
EMBLEM - (from the Greek emblema insert, embossed decoration), the embodiment of a phenomenon, an abstract concept or a speculative idea in a visual image. In terms of its function, the emblem often approaches allegory (it is often considered as its kind), but, in ... Modern encyclopedia
EMBLEM - EMBLEM, emblems, wives. (Greek emblema insert) (book). Subject, image, conventionally denoting any concept, some idea. Anchor emblem of hope. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
Emblem - symbolic designation of a concept, idea, social program or organization by means of a conventional sign or image. See also: Symbols Finam Financial Dictionary ... Financial vocabulary
Emblem - (from the Greek emblema insert, convex decoration) a conditional explanation of a concept, an idea using an image (for example, a dove is the emblem of the peace movement). Political Science: Dictionary Handbook. comp. Prof. Paul Sanzharevsky I.I .. 2010 ... Political science. Dictionary.
EMBLEM - (from the Greek emblema embossed decoration) a conditional or symbolic image of a concept, idea (for example, the emblems of various types of troops) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
EMBLEM - (from Lat. emblema insert, convex image) a conditional symbolic image of a concept or idea; unlike a symbol, it does not embody the content of a concept, it only points to it. Raizberg B.A., Lozovsky L.Sh., Starodubtseva E.B .. ... ... Economic Dictionary
EMBLEM - EMBLEM, s, g. Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
Books
- Emblem. Essays on Theory and Pragmatics of Regular Mechanisms of Culture, Elena Grigorieva. Elena Grigorieva's book is devoted to one of the basic mechanisms that form and retain meaning in culture. The author prefers to call this device an emblem, since it is the historical ...
Everywhere we are surrounded by company logos. Take a look around - everything that has been done by humanity is labeled on behalf of the manufacturer in order to advertise this product, spread information about it among as many consumers as possible.
We will devote this article to the question “what is a logo”, what is its role and why so much attention is paid to it.
Logo concept
So, if we turn to the origin of the term, it will become clear that in translation from ancient Greek this word means a combination of “word and imprint”. Accordingly, logos are used for verbal or graphic designation of any information (in particular, about a product, company or organization).
It is believed that the first brand logos appeared in the early 20th century. This was due to the growth of production in the United States. And, what is most interesting, the creation of logos carried a purely practical function - they were developed in order not to engage in re-printing of the established graphic signs. These were, for example, the original inscription, an image with the name of the company, and the like.
Kinds
There are three common types of logos. They have been used around the world for over a century. These are: logos of companies in the form of graphic signs (a picture indicating the emblem); text logos (presented in the form of inscriptions), as well as a combined version, in which a picture and text are mixed.
It is characteristic of logos that all symbols, both graphic and text, are designed according to a single well-established pattern, which is repeated every time the logo needs to be applied again.
Role of the logo
There are several roles that the logo of a company plays. Firstly, it is informational - which consists in informing the consumer about who produced this or that product. Or, for example, the logo performs the same function when designating the office of an organization.
Secondly, the logo conveys a certain message from the company to the consumer, consisting, for example, in the mission or designation of the values \u200b\u200bthat the manufacturer adheres to. Third, the logo is designed to create a kind of feedback in the consumer's imagination; an association that aims to create a link between the product itself and the name of the company that released it. Finally, fourthly, we can say that a corporate logo can also play an aesthetic function to the extent that it will simply have an attractive appearance for the buyer.
The meaning of logos
So, what is a logo and what is its purpose, we figured it out. Of course, there are other functions that are performed by trademarks and company logos. How organizations or companies themselves use them depends on the nature of the product and its mission, values.
It should also be noted that each logo is designed to match the company that owns it. For this reason, the manufacturer tries to include in the design of his logo elements that characterize his activities or, for example, something related to his products. Thus, the connection between the product and the company that produces it is maintained.
The most famous logos
It is easier to understand what a logo is if you see clear examples. Since each of us has seen hundreds, if not thousands of logos in our lives, it will not be difficult for you to remember some of them. Take, for example, the world's largest companies such as McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Apple ... Even now, sitting at a computer, you see at least three or four logos - the manufacturer of your device, the logo of the operating system, as well as the brand name of your favorite search engine or email service. Perhaps all of them have already become so familiar to us that we do not even notice most of the logos presented. However, this is their mission - to be remembered for us at the subconscious level in order to appear in the memory in the future. This is a peculiar form of "self-promotion" that our brain creates for itself.
Own logo
At first, it may seem, when you learn what a logo is, that it is necessary exclusively for some transnational companies and the largest manufacturers around the world. In fact, this is not the case - even a small chain of grocery stores can (and should) afford to have its own trademark, a logo that will distinguish it from competing points.
Firstly, such a move will give more weight in the eyes of the consumer, because a well-designed logo is already a sign of a serious company, whose activities have a long-term perspective, since it is developing its own logo. Secondly, if we are talking about stores, having your own logo will make it possible to distinguish a point of sale from competitors. Thus, if the buyer knows that your products are cheaper, he will look for your trademark, bypassing competitors. Thirdly, having worked on the market for a long time, it will be possible to talk about the recognizability of the logo, about the habit that the consumer will develop towards it.
