A symbol of patriotism and value of heritage and traditions, Flag, is not the most popular element for the automaking brands’ visual identity. There are only a few car marques, which found their way to brilliantly use the flag image for their insignias, and this says a lot about their creativity and fundamental approach to design.
Although, the flag is usually associated with a horizontally oriented rectangular, the brands in our list experiment with shapes and patterns, which makes their badges truly unique and memorable.
What does Flag mean in car logos?
Many famous car brands use a flag as the central element of their visual identity. This can be a national flag (in the case with French Liger), or a racing black-and-white checkered flag, so loved by the sports-cars manufacturers (Corvette, OSCA). The flag is a symbol of confidence and high quality, it is synonymous with a quality mark, and also adds to the responsibility of the company producer.
Though it was supposed to be a list of Car Brands with flags in their logos, it is im-possible not to include the Chevrolet Corvette, the iconic model of the American car manufacturer. Not many models have their separate insignias, but Chevrolet Corvette does, and its iconic logo is composed of two flags.
One of the flags (on the right side of the road) is in black and white check, the kind of flag used in automobile racing. The left flag is decorated with the Chevrolet brand logo (cross), the parent brand of the Corvette, as well as the heraldic lily (fleur-de-lis), which is the emblem of founder Louis Chevrolet.
Now about traditional car badges. Ligier is a fairly well-known French car manufac-turer in Europe. The company was founded by the French racing driver Guy Ligier in the 1970s. At the beginning of its history, the French manufacturer produced only sports cars for Formula 1 races, on which Ligier’s team of the same name competed. This is where the two-flag Ligier logo comes from.
The badge is composed of two crossed flags — the checkered black and white on the left and the National French flag on the right. The logotype in bold blue letters is set under the graphical part.
Another sports car manufacturer on our list is Spania GTA, a small European man-ufacturer with a very good reputation. The visual identity of the brand uses the flag image in its concept, but it is not as obvious as on the badges of other marques. The Spania GTA logo boasts a sleek traditional crest in white and red,?285) the black heraldic wolf on its upper part and a white checkered flag set on the bottom red part, with no framing. The logotype is written in the middle of the crest, separating two parts from each other.
In 1947, the Maserati brothers founded the company “Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili Fratelli Maserati”, briefly Osca, located in the old Maserati workshops in Bologna. There is 1948 they built the first Osca racing model, which took part in Formula 2 races. OSCA specialized in the construction of sports cars and powertrains.
The visual identity of the Italian brand featured an elegant and traditional circular badge in gray and blue with the flag in the middle. The flag was executed in royal blue and red with thin white details, which turned silver when placed on the OSCA cars.
The Mexican car brand Mastretta, founded in 1987, owes its existence to industrial designer Daniel Mastretta, who did not abandon the dream of creating his own car. The marque can definitely be called the most famous automaker in its country and has its visual identity based on the colors of the National Flag of Mexico. But the color palette is not the only “flag” element in the Mastretta badge. The bottom part of the modern crest contains a diagonally oriented checkered black and white racing flag image.
Another iconic automaker with a flag in its logo is the Italian Ferrari. The legendary brand uses its national tricolor as the upper part of the rectangular banner. It adds not only a patriotic feeling and a reflection of the company ‘a heritage and background, but also works great color-wise, creating a bright contrast between the green, white and red tricolor, and an intense yellow background. In terms of thickness and size, the flag here is perfectly balanced, taking up as much space on the badge, as the black “Ferrari” lettering.
One more legendary car brand with a flag on its logo is Ford Mustang. Just like with the Corvette badge, it is a single model of the automaker, which uses a completely different logo from all other models of the brand. The flag on the Mustang badge is set vertically behind the silver voluminous Mustang horse. It is composed of three vertical stripes in the national American color palette, red, white, and blue. This is the most famous and elegant tricolor, which not only shows the brand’s background but also represents it as a powerful and fundamental one.