The truth behind the Chevrolet logo
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The Fascinating History Behind the Chevrolet Logo
Introduction
Chevrolet is one of the biggest and most recognizable brands in automotive history. Under the umbrella of General Motors, Chevrolet has created some memorable cars through the years. Its logo, the highly recognizable golden bowtie, has a story behind it. This article will tell you the truth behind the Chevrolet logo.
The Creation of the Chevrolet Logo
The Chevrolet logo was created by William C. Durant, the co-founder of Chevrolet, in 1913. According to Durant, he was inspired by a wallpaper design he found at a Parisian hotel back in 1908. He was amused by the wallpaper’s bowtie design that seemed to stretch to infinity. He tore a piece of the wallpaper to serve as inspiration for the logo. This company would later turn out to be Chevrolet, and that piece of wallpaper served as his inspiration to create the now-legendary bowtie logo. This story was published in the 1961 book The Chevrolet Story, an official company publication that chronicled the first 50 years of the company.
Alternative Stories About the Logo's Origin
Most may think that the story of the logo should have ended there, but there are alternative stories on how the logo came about:
- One story comes from William Durant’s daughter, Margery. In her book about her father's life, she claims that the logo was created out of many doodles her dad made on their dinner table.
- Another story is from Durant’s wife, Catherine. She said that during a holiday spent by the Durants at Hot Springs in 1912, William showed her a design found in a newspaper which he thought would be a fine design for a car brand logo.
The Search for the Truth
These alternative (yet somewhat plausible) stories mean that the history of the Chevrolet logo is not as straightforward as previously thought. This has led some historians to seek out the truth once and for all. Historian Ken Kaufmann discovered a product named “Coalettes,” which has a logo very similar to Chevrolet’s bowtie logo in a newspaper dating back to 1911. Interestingly, the date of the paper was just 9 days before the Chevrolet logo was officially released.
Another theory suggests that the Chevrolet logo was a product of co-founder Louis Chevrolet’s imagination. Chevrolet, a man of Swiss origin, might have crafted the logo using the Swiss flag as inspiration.
Conclusion
No one can definitively tell what the true story behind the Chevrolet logo is, which adds to its mystique. Regardless, the bowtie has become synonymous with the car brand, which has released all kinds of classics in the automotive world for more than a century. The bowtie logo has remained largely unchanged since it was first introduced, with changes primarily being minor. The Chevrolet logo is one of the most recognizable logos in the industry, which is a testament to both its effective design and Chevrolet’s contributions as an automotive company.
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