A
Survey of Automotive Heraldry
I
have an interest in both automobiles and heraldry. It is hard to escape the use of heraldry on automobiles, with
shields and other heraldic trappings used in various odd and curious
fashions. This survey is about the use
and misuse of heraldry, particularly as I have witnessed it in my part of the
world (the upper left hand corner of the United States of America.)
Heraldry is an art form that began in Europe in the twelfth
century. It started as an
identification system, but gained other functions as time progressed, such as
fashionable adornment, indication of inherited nobility, and allegiance to a
noble person or cause. There are some
graphic systems similar to heraldry in other cultures such as the Japanese
Mons, which will only occasionally be referred to here.
As long as people have had personal symbols, they have used these
to identify their possessions. Heraldic
markings were used on horse drawn vehicles, and this continued when a motor
replaced the horse. The difference came
when commercial enterprises began to use them to identify their products and
adapted the heraldic images to suit this expanded purpose.
While
the use of corporate logos is well established in modern marketing practice,
the heraldic emblem continues to be used in its place for many
manufactures. And it does so for
reasons beyond identification. We will
look at its use to indicate inherited nobility, allegiance, intimidation, and
pure adornment. Particularly striking
examples of this last purpose are the arms convert to jewelry and used for so
long in print advertisements for Cadillac.
Heraldic images on automobiles seem to come from three main
sources. Most common seem to be the
arms of the jurisdiction in which the company started (BMW, Morris.) There are a number of cases where the
company founder’s arms are used, although this is often a case of assuming the
arms of someone with the same name (Buick,
Dodge.)
A variant of this is when the founder’s astrological sign is used
instead (Abarth, Lamborghini.) Finally, there are a large number that are
pure imagination, typically a result of some marketer’s fantasy (Chevrolet, Mini.)
Heraldic
symbols and references show up in many places on automobiles. Most commonly they are on the center of the
front edge of hood or radiators and on the center boss of steering wheels. They are also found on grilles, the rear
trunk, fenders (usually the front fender behind the wheel), doorposts, hubcaps,
and on any literature associated with the vehicle. However, it can appear almost anywhere, such as the Chrysler
Cordoba taillight shown here, where the heraldry is almost lost in the
decorative scrollwork.
For sake of consistency, a logo that lays flat against the front
of the car will be called a “hood badge” and one that sticks up or out will be
called a “hood ornament” in this survey.
This survey will consider the following uses of heraldry on automobiles:
·
Badges (or
crests) on shields or escutcheon shapes.
·
Any
heraldic images that previously appear on a historical heraldic display (such
as the Griffin used by Vauxhall.)
·
Instances
where a manufacture has devise a logo that, while not in the first two
categories, otherwise servers as a heraldic image.
This
last category frequently represent some of the most interesting and
intimidating uses of heraldry to be found today, which brings us back to the
original purpose of heraldry at its birth in the Twelfth century.
This survey will usually not consider the following heraldic uses:
·
Since it
is trivial to design a round badge with any arbitrary symbol on it and call it arms,
we will ignore those that do not have some other heraldic aspect.
·
Badges
(typically on the front bumper or grille) added by the owner (see Car Grille
Badges).
·
License
plates, which sometimes include the arms of the issuing civil authority, will
not be considered.
·
Heraldic
ornamentation applied by individual owners to their automobiles, either painted
on the surface or on banners suspended from the vehicle.
·
Crests (as
opposed to shields) used as hood ornaments.
These are well covered in other sources (such as Rocketman's
Hood Ornaments and Automobilia).
While heraldic images are frequently misused in automotive
applications, there is a rich history of their use as decorative jewelry and
nobility by association when applied in what sometimes seems to be a random
fashion.
Contact the author: Ellis Hillinger.
Return to the Hillinger
Home Page
Last
Update: July 12, 2000
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