Do you know the stories behind these eight auto logos?

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You need a logo to identify your product, and there are some memorable ones in the auto world. Anybody with a driver’s license knows Ford’s “Blue Oval” or Chevy’s bowtie; they know Ferrari’s prancing horse and Lamborghini’s fighting bull.

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But just what is the story behind auto logos? We’ve gathered eight memorable ones for their history, or how they’ve changed, or stuff that’s just really cool.

Rolls-Royce: Mister and Maybe-Mistress

The company was created in 1904 by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, but the auto world’s most recognizable hood ornament came about through a magazine publisher named John Montagu. He owned a Rolls-
Royce and commissioned his magazine illustrator to sketch a statue that became a rad-topper for the car. It was based on Eleanor Thornton, who was Montagu’s secretary and, many believe, also his mistress.

The mascot went over well with the company, and eventually became the signature piece on every Rolls-Royce. She’s properly known as the Spirit of Ecstasy. Many call her the “winged lady,” but those aren’t wings — instead, they’re her sleeves, billowing in the wind.

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Mustang: Were they really horsing around?

What’s found on the grille is a horse, of course, but a wild pony might not have been the inspiration for the name. When the car was under development, some of the names tossed around included Torino, Cougar, Allegro, and Thunderbird II.

According to Ford, while no one absolutely knows for sure, it’s possible the name came from the P-51 Mustang fighter plane. John Najjar, who designed the Mustang concept, later told a reporter he’d been reading about the plane and suggested it for the name. His boss didn’t like the airplane tie-in, but when Najjar proposed it again for the horse, the Mustang it became. Ford also went equine with the Bronco, a name and logo it recently brought back; and the Pinto, which it probably never will.

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Mack: Who let the dogs out?

Back in the First World War, the British government bought Mack trucks for its troops. The ultra-tough trucks had blunt front ends, and soldiers dubbed them “Bulldog Macks.” The company liked it enough that it adopted a bulldog as its logo in 1921, and engraved the dogs onto metal plates that were bolted onto the cab of each new truck.

In 1932, Mack’s chief engineer was recuperating from surgery. To keep busy, he carved a bulldog out of wood — and his squared-off pooch is the design that’s on every Mack hood today.

Cadillac: Who let the ducks out?

When engineer Henry Leland built his first car and created his company (before selling it to GM and then starting Lincoln, which he sold to Ford) he named it for Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the French explorer who founded Detroit. The logo is Cadillac’s coat of arms, which included six birds — properly called merlettes, and popular on crests since the Crusades. Eventually, though, they came to be known as Cadillac’s ducks.

The ducks graced Cadillac’s cars for almost a century. In 1997, the company turned one of the merlettes into a goofy cartoon duck, in an unsuccessful attempt to market its Catera to younger buyers. In 2000, the crest was streamlined and the ducks were out — although the upcoming all-electric 2023 Lyriq crossover sports some of the birds on its dash.

Audi: Listen up

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Audi calls itself as “the brand with four rings,” and each represents an independent automaker that merged to form the company — Horch, Audi, Wanderer, and DKW.

Automaker August Horch created his company in 1899 but didn’t get along with his directors, and left to build a new car in 1909. He couldn’t use his name a second time, and since Horch means “listen” in German, he used the Latin translation of it — Audi. The four companies merged in 1932 to create Auto Union AG, and the logo rings interlocked to indicate it. All but Audi eventually stopped making cars, and the company became Audi AG in 1985.

Acura: Who the H thought of that?

Lexus is the runaway bestseller among the Japanese luxury brands, but Acura was actually first out of the gate. Honda launched its premium division in Canada and the U.S. in 1986, three years before Toyota’s Lexus and Nissan’s Infiniti.

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The name was created from the Latin acu, meaning precision. Acura says the logo is a set of calipers, indicating precision in its engineering. The company knows best, of course — but every time we see it, we can’t help but picture somebody pinching together the top of Honda’s logo.

Subaru: Look up to the stars

Subaru’s starry logo is a constellation known as the Pleiades to English speakers, but called Subaru in Japanese. The automaker’s parent company, which used to be known as Fuji Heavy Industries (it was changed to Subaru Corporation a few years ago), was created when aerospace and industrial companies merged in 1953.

There are six easily-visible stars in the cluster, and since there were six related companies involved, the constellation was used to represent it. The company’s first prototype car, the P-1 of 1954, was renamed the Subaru 1500 and was the first to wear the name.

Mercedes-Benz: Yet another star

The company was formed when two companies joined together: Benz & Cie, founded by Karl Benz; and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, started by Gottlieb Daimler. The Mercedes name was added when a sales agent agreed to take a large order, but only if the cars were named for his daughter.

Benz’s logo was the Benz name, surrounded by a laurel-leaf wreath, while Daimler used a three-pointed star on its own. The two firms merged in 1926, but were so sure of it that they unveiled their new star-within-a-wreath more than a year before they officially joined.