Founded in 1916, Bavarian Motor Works or BMW is a German multinational company that is headquartered in Bavaria, they produce cars and motorcycles. They also manufacture cars in India, South Africa, Germany, the United States, China, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. In 2015, BMW became the world’s 12th largest producer of automobiles. BMW is one of the world’s most appreciated and recognizable automobile brands in the world. in 2014, the company had a revenue of more than 80 billion euros making it one of the most successful luxury automobile manufacturers in the world. And with the huge growth in the love of sporty cars and motorcycle riding as a hobby, the BMW brand is going strong.
But aside from its long and complicated story, a lot of people believe that the BMW logo is one of the main reasons for the company’s unquestionable success. But most people do not know the real story behind the BMW emblem. What does the BMW logo really mean?
History
For some time, the BMW logo was thought to be inspired by an airplane propeller in motion. But if you look at it closely, the theory made perfect sense. In fact, there’s a photo of an airplane with its propeller forming the BMW emblem has been considered to be the inspiration of the design. But this was until BMW themselves released a video explaining the true inspiration for the logo and according to the video, the white and blue logo are taken from the Bavarian flag where the company is headquartered. And after all that, it made perfect sense. As for the shape of the BMW’s emblem, they said that it was inspired by the logo of Rapp Motorenwerke, a Germain aircraft maker which eventually became BMW.
Since 1916, the BMW emblem remained pretty much identical to the one we see today on their cars with only a few minimal changes. And back then the colors were less chrome than they are today and the font is somewhat different. The old version of the emblem also featured a gold color and this color lasted through two emblem incarnations from 1916 to 1936. They replaced it with the color white and changed the fonts in 1954. Since then, BMW’s emblem has gone through minimal changes.
The gold color in the old BMW emblem was said to symbolize wealth, prosperity, grandeur, and glamor. But when BMW introduced its vehicles to the masses, the gold disappeared from the logo. On the other hand, the new logo featured the colors black, blue, and white. The blue in the logo stands for strength and reliability, the black stands for elegance and excellence, and the white symbolizes purity and charm.
BMW is one of the world’s most respected and successful automobile brands and the same success is also shared by its logo. In fact, the market is full of products such as plates, steering wheels, stickers, floor mats, replacement parts, 3D printed items, toys, and even T-shirts that features the BMW logo.
Their logo symbolizes one of the most profitable and famous automobile manufacturer in the world and it proved that simplicity, elegance, and class surely can stand the test of time.
