Indian Motorcycle Logo PNG
Indian Motorcycle is a legendary American label of motorcycles manufacturer, which was founded in 1901 and then was paused in 1953. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the company was the largest producer of motorbikes in the world.
Meaning and history
Indian Motorcycle, commonly known as Indians, was the first brand in its segment in the USA. It has a long and colorful visual identity history, yet it was always based on the same core principles — the Native American man was a part of every label’s logo.
Indian Motorcycle changed their logo with every new model released, and did it easily. The models kept being produced by the brand until 1953. And only in 2011 the label was reborn again. Today it produces contemporary bikes, but still uses the iconic visual identity concept.
The text-based logo
The very first Indian Motorcycle logo was designed in 1901 right after the brand was established. It was assembled of a wordmark in a burgundy color. The unique cursive typeface features bold lines and solid underlining.
A little later the brand starts placing the wordmark diagonally and switches color palette to monochrome. The next stage of the Indian’s visual identity design was adding an emblem to the wordmark, but in the 1970s the brand comes back to the text-based version.
This typeface is still used by the brand and has always been there. It is called AZ Indian font.
The graphical logo
The main element of all the Indian Motorcycle logos was a profile of a Native American man wearing feathers. The first graphical badge of the brand was comprised of a circle with a red and white image in it, the wordmark was placed below.
The later designs featured an Indian man turned right and the wordmark placed on the feathers.
The color schemes of the emblems vary from red and white on the first variant, to burgundy with thin white lines and letters and later — a more detailed colorful version, composed of teal low brown and white.
Every Indian Motorcycle emblem redesign kept the Essence of the brand and always celebrated the company’s heritage and individuality, no matter which tone it was colored into.
The 2013 logo
Almost all the logo versions created throughout the Indian Motorcycle company’s history are still in use today, as this retro brand placed different logos on different motorbike models.
But in 2013 after the acquisition of labels by Polaris, the brand decides to refresh and modernize the iconic visual identity.
In order to celebrate the legendary brand’s reborn, the new logo was created. It is still the iconic Native American profile, but now its placed on a circle, where the “Sturgis Motorcycle Rally 2013” lettering is located in the top part and “A new are begins” in the bottom.
The “Indian Motorcycle” wordmark is located over the feathers and features the same iconic typeface but in a refined version. The “Motorcycles” tagline in all capital letters is executed in a modern widely spaced sans-serif typeface.
The burgundy remains the main color of the Indian Motorcycle’s visual identity, as for the white — it is now replaced by a light gray, which adds a sense of style and elegance.
The Indian Motorcycle logo is instantly recognizable and unique. It is a perfect reflection of the brand’s heritage and individuality. Bright, strong and authentic.
