Mercedes-Benz logo evolution
Image courtesy of kenjonbro
Mercedes logo 1902
Mercedes logo 1909
Benz logo 1909
Mercedes logo 1916
The company was founded by life-long business partners Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Mercédès is the name of Maybach’s elder daughter, while the Benz came as a result of a merger with Benz and Cie in 1926.
Mercedes logo 1926
The Mercedes-Benz logo consists of a simple depiction of a three-pointed star that represents its domination of the land, the sea, and the air.
Mercedes-Benz logo 2008
The colour silver is typical of the Mercedes-Benz brand, and dates back to its involvement in the first Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in 1934.
Lewis Hamilton driving a Mercedes-Benz W25 at the Nürburgring
When one of the cars exceeded the eligible weight of 750 kilograms in the pre-race checks, officials spent the night polishing off the white paint so the car was back to its raw silver colour. (So the legend goes.) The car was named the “silver arrow.”
Mercedes-Benz emblem
Update: 30 November 2009
Mercedes-Benz logo and symbol 2009
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25 appreciated comments, click here to add one
OPEN STUDIO
Thank your for sharing such an amazing logo.
It’s great when a logo gets to the point that you don’t need the name of the company anymore, just like Nike.
I have to say that when it comes to car logos I also love the Mitsubishi one.
Nov 30th, 2009
Andy Wilkinson
Wow, I’m impressed by how little it’s changed since 1909 – that’s consistency. Very reminiscent of the evolution of the Coca Cola logo.
Nov 30th, 2009
Brian Yerkes
Cool post mate. The most recent logo was just launched about a year ago…it is now flattened and a single silver color. It no longer has the dimensional element to it. This change applies to the logo in print and online. The emblem on the cars still has the hard bevels. I do some graphic design work for them and really liked the update they did to the latest version
Nov 30th, 2009
swati
Ah car logos! The Mercedes logo evolution seems like heritage. I remember an advertisement where they had the entire history with a couple more.
Wonder how the Punto logo came about. Love the playful P form but there is something missing. What do you think?
Nov 30th, 2009
Sam Logan
Arguably the most well known car logo around and most probably due to its consistency and simpleness. A great identity that will never need to re-brand itself.
Nov 30th, 2009
Stephen Webb
The Mercedes logo certainly is an impressive one, especially considering how little it has changed over the years, this goes to show how well the evolution has perfected its design. He fact that you can instantly recognise what it is without the name underneath, much like the Nike tick, proved how well embedded this design has become in the public consciousness.
It’s interesting to note that the latest logo design has been flattened to make it two dimensional, so that it is consistent in print and web publications. This simplifying of the design seems to be a common occurrence at the moment, as simplicity becomes ever more fashionable.
Looking forward to reading similar posts in the near future, thanks for a great tour through their logo design history!
Nov 30th, 2009
OPEN STUDIO
When it comes to the Punto logo, I’ve read somewhere that some people say it was inspired by the air con dials from the latest Volvos. I remember seing it and there were some similarities.
Nov 30th, 2009
lee newham
I think car branding has always been way ahead of any other. It’s the logo or Symbol (the mercedes badge above is a symbol, it’s NOT a logo).
There are lots of visual signiatures that cars have that mean you can tell one from a distance, even in the dark just by the headlights. It took many years for other non automotive brands to catch on to this.
This also demonstrates exactly what a logo/Symbol is. Firstly it’s a badge, and identifier. The emotive connections people attach to that are mostly to do with their experience with the brand itself. Making the brand more visible/distinctive and re-enforcing those connections is the essence of great branding.
Nov 30th, 2009
Tim
The current one is missing: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UYUyHACXkrA/SLlwUvpUO-I/AAAAAAAAIJQ/h21FRWlEpWE/s400/Mercedes-Benz%2Bnew%2Blogo.bmp.jpg
Nov 30th, 2009
David Airey
Thanks for the comments and for the mention of the recent update. I’ve added new images to the post, showing the flattened symbol.
Will your Mercedes work be in the new portfolio, Brian? It’d be good to see.
Lee, a post about terminology would be useful. If that’s something of interest, give me a shout. If not, I’ll put some thought into it myself. Cheers.
Nov 30th, 2009
lee newham
I will email you David.
Cheers
Lee
Nov 30th, 2009
Kevin Burr
It’s so exciting to see the 1 color version of the logo in effect. :-)
Nov 30th, 2009
sam
i like the stories behind cars logos, there is the BMW logo is also very interesting.
the flattened version of the silver arrows is very simple when you compare it to the 3D one, but it seems ok when it’s used in their web site, and i guess the print.
Nov 30th, 2009
Altaf Shaikh
it’s tremendous decision of Mercedes owners, because see the great beauty in simplicity & richness, and easy to print on each and every promotional materials with even similarity….
Dec 1st, 2009
Tessa Carroll
Mercedes-Benz certainly employs one of the most recognizable and timeless logos out there. Thank you for sharing the progression of this logo from it’s inception to what we see and know today as the Mercedes-Benz brand.
Tessa Carroll
Dec 1st, 2009
Daniel Whyte
great post, helps to keep things in perspective when designing my own logos.
Dec 2nd, 2009
mercedes
“Mercédès is the name of Maybach’s elder daughter, while the Benz came as a result of a merger with Benz and Cie in 1926.”
Wrong – Mercédès is the name of the Emil Jellinek’s daughter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Jellinek
Dec 7th, 2009
alice sellers
great post, i really love to collect pictures of mercedez benz cars.
awesome.
Dec 8th, 2009
David Airey
Thanks a lot for the daughter update.
Dec 9th, 2009
Fabrizio Van Marciano
Wow, nice piece of history in Mercedes logos. Thanks for sharing.
Dec 14th, 2009
roberto
The logo/symbol is serendipitously, or perhaps intentionally, evocative of a steering wheel.
Dec 22nd, 2009
Louis
Hi, nice post. I had been told that Mercedes logo was a star because the company has manufactured aircraft engines and the logo was the shape of blades. Does anyone know if it’s true? And what about BMW logo?
Mar 27th, 2010
Felix Groenewald
For those interested.
Each point of the star has a meaning. It goes something like this:
botton-left: LAND
bottom-right: SEA
top: AIR
Mercedses-Benz manufactures automobiles, parts and accessories for use on Land, Sea and Air.
Apr 6th, 2010
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