Lancia is the name of an Italian automotive company, which was established in Turin in 1906. The brand, owned by Fiat Chrysler Group, is very popular in Italy and other European countries, though not on other continents, despite the high quality of its vehicles and innovative approach to design and production process.
The Lancia visual identity history is a brilliant example of how the evolution and progress of the brand can be shown in the logo and its updates. All but the very first badges of the Italian marque have been based on two main symbols — a sharp cavalry weapon, which gave the name to the brand, and a steering wheel.
The very first Lancia logo was created for the automaker in 1906 and stayed active until 1911, along with one more badge, introduced a year later. It was a solid black horizontally perimeter rectangular banner in a thin double black-and-white outline, withheavy serif lettering in white characters, set in the uppercase, with the “L” larger than other letters.
However, the original Lancia logo, introduced in 1906, featured a simple script wordmark with elongated lines for the first and last letters. The nameplate was executed in gold and looked sleek and elegant, is a representation of style and sophistication.
The badge, which became the basis of today’s Lancia visual identity, was designed in 1911 and comprised a steering wheel in thin gold lines on a white background, with a bright blue flag with a wordmark over it. The flag’s handle was replaced by a lancia, a weapon with a sharp metal end.
The gold lettering in an elegant serif font was placed on a blue rectangle and had its serifs pointed and elongated. Written in all capitals, the wordmark had its first letter enlarged.
In 1929 the steering wheel was placed inside a blue shield. All the contours of the logo have been refined and became bolder. The blue crest had the same gold outline, as the rounded symbol, and it made the whole image balanced and bright.
In 1950 the Lancia logo gets a brighter color palette and a flat execution. The new version of the badge was fully based on the previous one, but with the golden details replaced by acid-yellow, and the shade of blue lightened up. The yellow steering wheel was now set against a plain white background, and the characters in the “Lancia” inscription also turned white, making up a strong color contrast.
A new version of the logo was designed in 1957. The color palette was switched to silver and blue, where all the details except for the rectangular banner, were silver. The steering wheel became abstract and featured only a circle, which was enclosed in a shield-shaped frame. The lettering on the banner was executed in the same typeface as on the previous versions, but due to the use of the new color, it looked bolder and more confident.
In 1972 the Lancia badge was minimized to the rectangular banner, repeating the style of the original logo from 1906, but this time it was executed in a blue and white color palette, with the white inscription set over a solid blue rectangle in a thin white outline. The banner was placed on a larger white one, with a thin blue framing and a clean white square in the right part.
In 1974 the brand comes back to the blue background of the badge. The white steering wheel with blue lines and a solid blue flag was placed inside a blue shield with a delicate silver outline. The wordmark changed its typeface, and now all letters featured one size and were executed in a simple serif font with bold straight lines.
The Lancia logo redesign, held in 1981, just slightly played with the shade of blue, keeping the concept of the logo, used from 1974, unchanged. The new color was calmer and deeper and created a more elegant and exquisite look to the badge. The logo stayed in use by the automaker for almost twenty years.
In 2001Lancia’s visual identity got another redesign. With the blue getting darker and the surface of the icon gaining gloss and gradient shades, which made the badge look voluminous and sharp. The white lettering started looking more modern and confident, due to the stronger contrast with a dark blue background now
The redesign of 2007 brought a new style to the Lancia visual identity. The contemporary and sharp emblem featured a stylized steering wheel with enlarged lettering in the middle. The circular symbol is placed on a royal-blue shield with a thick silver frame.
The flag with a Lancia-handle was removed from the logo, but you can see the sharp ends of the weapon inside the circle of the steering wheel — on its top and bottom, pointing at the lettering.
The redesign of the Lancia badge, held in 2022, has introduced a new version of the iconic automaker’s badge. The blue crest gained lighter and glossier shades, the steering wheel is now depicted by an extra-thin silver ring, and the flag handle became thinner, longer, and sharper. As for the wordmark, it got a completely new typeface — sleek futuristic sans-serif with the erased horizontal bars of both “A”s.
The white bold lettering of the Lancia logo is executed in a traditional elegant serif typeface, which looks very close to such fonts as Alter Headletter and Robusta bold, but with the letters narrowed. The inscription looks sleek and timeless due to its clean contours and distinct sharp serifs.
The blue and silver color palette of the emblem is complemented by white of the inscription and stands for quality, reliability, and loyalty. The marque values the safety and comfort of their customers, and this is very well shown on their badge.