A Survey of Automotive Heraldry

 

By Ellis Hillinger

 

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.

 

 

 Bibliography

 

Contact the author: Ellis Hillinger.

 

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Last Update: July 12, 2000