Badges of honour: the meaning behind six Italian car logos

Stephen Bayley says that Italian carmakers display their pride on their shields

motoring_logos.jpg

Long before the annoying logo infected our handbags and our trousers, there was the car badge. Here was a perfect miniature exercise in the discipline of graphic design: within a modest space, a world of meaning had to be effectively and economically conveyed. Word and image must work as one; there is not the luxury of space. A set of values needs to be presented unambiguously, but with arresting style. Italian manufacturers have some of the best: they call them scudetti. These ‘little shields’ are a sort of contemporary survival of medieval heraldry. And pride in the marque is as fierce as for the old city states.

ALFA ROMEO

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
is a leading writer and commentator on design. He oversaw the creation of London’s Design Museum and was briefly creative director of the Millennium Dome. His books include Taste and Sex, Drink and Fast Cars. His next book is about how to design yourself.