10+ Famous Car Logos with Wings and Why Are They Significant

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Discover What the Top Car Emblems with Wings Mean for Their Brands

Consumers today around the world have a number of different options to choose from for their preferred automotive manufacturer. These brands, in order to stand out from the crowd, use different symbols like animals in their design. Another common style of brand symbols nowadays, is car logos with wings.

Now, you might be asking – what does a car, something that is supposed to stay on land, has to do with wings, or flight in general? Ideally, when you are in a car, you want the car to stay planted on the road rather than fly through the air, right?

Well, there must be some meaning to that madness, because many automotive companies have sported a car logo with wings, both in the present and the past. Interestingly, many of the top automotive brands that have historically been associated with aviation, such as Lamborghini, Mitsubishi, and especially Saab, have never used car emblems that feature wings.

So what is it about car brands with wings on their logo that attract consumers and businesses alike? And why are they not more prevalent in the industry? Let’s dive in and discover the mysteries of car emblems with wings in their logos for some of the top automotive brands.

The Significance of Using Car Logos with Wings for Your Automotive Brands

First off, we will try to understand the significance of a car brand with wings on its logo. Why do you think a professional logo design agency would add that to a logo for an automotive manufacturer?

Well, for starters, the symbology behind wing car logo relates to the concept of swiftness. That means that if a car company wants to portray that their automotive philosophy is based on creating fast and agile cars, what better than a car brand with wings on its logo to represent that?

Another reason brands might want to add wings to their car logos, is that the winged design makes the logo look sleek and elegant. Take a look at the logo for Chrysler or Bentley, or even Aston Martin. These car emblems, when featured on the front or backs of their cars, highlight the sleek lines and aerodynamic shape of the automobiles, emphasizing their luxury element for everyone to see. And that is evident even when the car is stationary, something symbols like the Porsche logo do not embody.

Then there are those who use the winged design for personal reasons. This is especially true for old brands, like Duesenberg or Honda Motorcycles. In the case of Honda, Soichiro Honda, the founder of the company, was quote enamored with the Greek goddess Nike, whose symbol is a pair of wings. And when creating a logo for Honda’s motorcycle division, the company decided to use this symbology in their design.

So what about the other brands of car with wings logo as their symbol? Why are they going for car logo with wings?

Let’s find out.

Car Logo with Wings in the American Automotive Industry

Let’s start with car emblems in the US. When we talk about American car brands, they are designed to highlight the wordmark or the logo design itself for the most part. USA is considered a major automotive market in terms of manufacturing and demand. And with foreign companies like Toyota and Ferrari using various interesting types of logos, local manufacturers needed to stand out.

But why a car symbol with wings? Let’s discover the secret behind the formation of these wing car logos in the US.

Chrysler

First up on this list of American car logos with wings, is Chrysler. Now owned by automotive conglomerate Stellantis, Chrysler is known for cars with a sleek and stylish design. The thin and horizontal profile of the logo is perfect, mimicking the  aerodynamic spread of a bird’s wings in flight, and the metallic sheen represents the luxury element of the automotive company.

Considering that the Chrysler logo  represents high end, luxury vehicles for the marquee, it is the perfect design for the luxury car brand with wings.

Rezvani

Rezvani Motors is the brainchild of Iranian-American automotive designer Ferris Rezvani. As a company, Rezvani focuses on creating high-performance sports cars and vehicles, the company can be considered an avant-garde automotive company.

The spread wings on this car logo with wings signify a bird rising into the air silhouetted against the sun, which symbolically means that the company is going for something unexpected and unique. And that philosophy is apparent in the Rezvani Beast, as well as the Tank, Hercules, and Vengeance options.

Famous British Car Emblem with Wings

Due to their part in the industrial revolution, Britain and the rest of Europe have enjoyed a long time at the top of the list of makers of sleek and elegant automobiles. However, that also meant that there were intense rivalries there, and companies needed ways to stand out from the competition without going overboard. Imagine the intense rivalry between two of today’s most popular Italian automobile marquees, pitting the aggressive Lamborghini symbol against the sleek Ferrari logo, but with classic British etiquette thrown in.

With such intense fine-tuning of the business logo a general requirement, it is no wonder that British automotive companies have some of the most elegant logos of all time.

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular options for a British vehicle logo with wings.

Aston Martin

Aston Martin is as quintessentially British as Chevrolet trucks are to the US. From its association with the royal family, to the car for the suave Bond that spanned across multiple iterations of 007 from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, Aston Martin is one of the best British luxury marquees. And its car logo with wings is one of the most beautiful too, with the British racing green with white wordmark and black outline making for one of the most eye-catching color combinations.

Started by a Lionel Martin, the first Aston Martin was a car that Martin developed for the Aston Hill run, a steep and winding climb up the Aston Hill in Buckinghamshire, England. Thus, their success led to the company being born. The winged car logo featuring the name of the company is designed to highlight the powerful vehicles they produce, as the wings signify the ease with which a bird rises up in the air being the same as an Aston Martin racing uphill.

MINI

Continuing on the same theme, MINI is another popular automotive brand from Britain, which is known for its small yet superbly powerful and agile MINI car. The car of choice for the eponymous Mr. Bean and his teddy, as well as featuring in movies like The Italian Job, both original and the remake, it can be said that the fame of this company exceeds far beyond the British soil.

Like some of the logos above, the wings are an abstract design on either ends of the wordmark, and signify the speed, agility, and freedom that comes with small wings, just like the car itself. And that is what makes it one of the most understated sports car logos we have seen.

Bentley

Bentley is another British marquee that is known for its luxury automobiles. As a theme, you might now understand that associating speed and luxury with a pair of wings was quite a common affair for the British, due to many of the early automobile brands developing engines for airplanes for World War I. So, when they moved to automobiles, the jump from airplanes to a car logo with wings is a no brainer.

Bentley’s logo is more similar to the aviator wings often worn by pilots, and is a symbol of the celestial. That is because before the company ever got into the automotive industry, they were predominantly an engine manufacturer for many of Britain’s earliest planes in World War I. The color scheme is also quite easy to recognize, with colors featuring highly contrasting white on black lettermark flanked by chrome wings on both sides, a great visual choice according to color theory.

Lagonda

Lagonda is another British brand, owned and operated by Aston Martin since 1947. Today, it features rebadged and new trims of existing Aston Martin cars, with the company serving as an entrant to new markets. As such, it’s a small wonder that it features a car emblem with wings flanking the wordmark, considering its close connection with Aston Martin.

Unlike Aston Martin’s logo, this one is more akin to logo symbols that represent aviators and other personnel related to the field of aviation.

Arash

Arash is an ultra low-volume British supercar and hypercar manufacturer that started in 1999. Today, the company has two different options in production, however, the speed of production is limited to around 3-4 cars a year. Thus they cater only to the very rich and discerning, who will happily pay a premium to get a car that is truly exclusive.

Unlike the other car logos with wings where the wings were an integral part of the logo’s primary design, the Arash logo is a bit different. A prime example of automotive emblem logos, it features an entire bird flapping its wings within its design, signifying the power and freedom of flight, one of life’s true luxuries.

Car Logos with Wings Representing Now-Defunct Automotive Companies

Now that we have looked at some of the top car logos with wings from US and Britain, let’s take a look at some symbols of now defunct automotive companies that also featured a car emblem with wings at the height of their fame.

Duesenberg

Duesenberg was an American car company in the early 1900s, which was known for its powerful straight-eight engines and hydraulic brakes on all four wheels, a first for cars at that time. The brainchild of Fred and August Duesenberg, German-born American brothers who were automotive engineers, their winged car logo featured the golden German eagle, a sign of old Bavarian aristocracy.

Wanderer

Wanderer was a German vehicle manufacturer who created everything from bicycles, to motorcycles, cars, vans, and other machinery. Starting out in the late 1800s, the company failed around the end of World War II, as it was part of the German war machine manufacturing vehicles for the Third Reich.

An unusual car brand with wings, it featured an abstract winged design, which combines the initials of the company with the design of the spread eagle wings, with a hint of tire tread in the gaps of the wings. Interestingly, its flat design makes us think that it would be perfect as one of the electric car brand logos representing an off-road or adventure vehicle company, with a minimalist yet expressive design.

Popular Motorcycle and Car Logos with Wings Across the Globe

Some of the most popular car logos with wings are those that stood out of the crowd due to them being unique to their respective region and industry. From Mazda’s curving wings car logo, to Honda Motorcycle’s iconic design, here are some of the most popular car emblems with wings.

Mazda

Mazda’s car logo with wings is one that we are all familiar with, due to its popularity as a reliable automotive brand around the world. The design of the logo is quite simple, yet extremely beautiful due to being able to capture the essence of the brand in such simplicity.

One of the best minimalist logos in the automotive world, Mazda’s logo features a flying bird with wings spread upwards and touching the edges of the design. It represents the luxurious feeling of driving a Mazda vehicle akin to soaring through the skies, while also subtly forming the letter M for Mazda in the design.

Genesis

Genesis is a South Korean automotive brand owned by Hyundai. Its car symbol with wings is quite straightforward, and done in the style of classic American and British marquees like Chrysler and Mini. Abstract and tapered wings on both sides, making for an elegant car logo design with wings, flank the shield in the middle. This was a highly successful project for the creation of an automotive winged car logo for Hyundai’s sister company, which led to its establishment as a luxury marquee.

Honda Motorcycles

Although not technically an automobile logo, seeing as it is a part of Honda, we will consider it. Unlike the automotive Honda logo, the logo design for two-wheelers is quite different. The design features an unfurling wing of a bird which is ready to take flight, which represented Honda’s philosophy in motorbike manufacturing.

Also, being inspired by the Greek goddess of success Nike, Soichiro Honda decided to use her symbol for the design, with its bright color scheme making it one of the best red logos as well.

Why Does an Automotive Company Use a Car Logo with Wings for Their Brand Symbol?

As can be evidenced by the logos above, the use of wings in automotive logo design speaks of a desire of achieving the freedom and speed of flying while still bound to the road and tarmac. As land-bound creatures, humans yearn to fly and experience the freedom that comes with it, thus the popularity of car logos with wings.

And it is this feeling that car manufacturers want to embody within their designs. Let’s take the example of the Ford logo. Although Ford has long established that it will use its wordmark in a blue oval, in 1912, there was an attempt by the company to replace the traditional logo with a winged car logo for Ford. However, it didn’t catch with the fans, and it was soon changed back.

Similarly, the mid 1900s also saw the creation of an automotive car logo with wings for Toyota, a company we know today for its simple logomark. And thank god that project was shelved.

Conclusion

In short, the significance of car logos with wings can only be understood if you understand the allure of flight that many humans have intrinsically. It is this drive for freedom, both physical and spiritual, that leads automotive brand designers to go for a car emblem with wings, in order to let them truly take flight and achieve their potential. As some Italian car brands are popular for using symbols of power on the ground, and German brands are known for their minimalist or regal symbols, British brands prefer wings to show power and speed

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