Mercedes Logo PNG
Mercedes is the name of the most famous German car brand, which was established by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler in 1926. Today the label is owned by Daimler AG and has its presence on all continents with manufacturing facilities in different countries across the globe.
Meaning and history
There is barely any car badge, which is more recognizable than the Mercedes-Benz emblem. Its iconic three-pointed Star is known in every corner of the world, being a synonym for comfort, lux, and high quality.
The star has a double meaning for the company — it was adopted in the 1920s, as a tribute to the Daimler family, whose father used a traditional five-pointed star as a signature, and put it on all the postcards he sent. The traditional contours were modified to make a three-pointed Star as a representation of the family’s intentions — to motorize the whole world on land, water, and in the air. Three directions, three points, three aims.
1902 – 1909
The very first Mercedes logo was composed of a strict oval badge, which was located horizontally and featured a bold sans-serif wordmark, where all the letters were in different sizes, enlarging to the center and then getting smaller to the right. The badge had a double outline and was executed in monochrome for documents and dark blue with silver for the emblem.
1909 – 1916
The Benz logo from 1909 was elegant and ornate. Its traditional circular badge had a thick double outline where the stylized wreath was drawn. The wordmark in an eddy custom sans-serif was written in black on a white background of the inner circle. It was an ornate and beautiful logo, which at the same time represented the power and energy of the brand.
1916 – 1926
The logo, designed for the brand in 1916, featured a blue and white star placed on a burgundy-red background and enclosed in a thick circular frame, where the wordmark and leaves ornament were drawn in white. It was a very elegant badge, which color palette represented style, sophistication, and power.
1926 – 1933
The logo, designed for the brand in 1926, featured a blue and white star placed on a burgundy-red background and enclosed in a thick circular frame, where the wordmark and leaves ornament were drawn in white. It was a very elegant badge, which color palette represented style, sophistication, and power.
1933 – Today
In 1933 the burgundy background was switched to light gray, and the star was now executed in white and gray, while the thick blue framing remained almost untouched. The leaves on the frame were redrawn and became a bit bigger than on the previous version of the logo.
1933 – 1989
Later in the same year, another badge was created. The super minimalist and very futuristic for its times, the badge was executed in black and featured a stylized thin and sharp three-pointed Star placed inside the white circle with a medium-thick black outline.
1989 – 2009
In 1989 the logo became three-dimensional and the color palette of the badge was switched to gradient gray. Now the symbol was executed in a glossy metallic texture and featured an enlarged serif lettering in black placed under it. The classy and neat inscription boasted a slightly visible shadow, which added volume and style to the whole image.
2009 – 2011
The flat design replaced the three-dimensional one in 2009. Both the emblem and the wordmark were redrawn in plain gray color without any accents and additions. The typeface of the lettering remained the same, but the lines started looking thinner due to the absence of the shadow.
La dernière mise à jour de conception de logo s’est produite assez récemment – en 2009, et ce logo est utilisé avec succès jusqu’à présent. La principale différence est le format de l’emblème: il est devenu plus petit, tandis que l’inscription «Mercedes-Benz» en dessous, au contraire, est devenue plus grande.
2011 – Today
The brand redesigns its visual identity again in 2011. The new logo looks pretty similar to the one, introduced in 1989, but the circular framing of the emblem became thicker and the lines of the wordmark — thinner. The typeface of the lettering resembles the Corporate A font family, which is an example of timeless elegance.
Symbol
The star that became the Mercedes symbol was originally seen by Gottlieb Daimler as an image protecting his own home. Later on this image acquired additional semantic meaning. Three (the number of the rays) was considered to be a sacred number, the number of perfection. Daimler also pointed out that the products of his enterprise were conquering the three elements ‒ water, air and land. After all, the concern produced engines for maritime and river transport, engines for the aviation industry and engines for land transport. Later among the company’s products there were also full-fledged vehicles, first of all, cars.
By the way, for the first time the Mercedes car was presented to the public as a racing car. The car took part in the race with “Monsieur Mercedes” behind the wheel ‒ Emil Jellinek took this nickname for the time of the race (being an aristocrat he could not participate in the race under his own name). By the way, later Emil, according to the aristocratic tradition, added a prefix to his name, and became Mercedes-Jellinek.
The first Mercedes logo was interpreted as a stylized image of the steering wheel. However, this explanation was dragged by the head and ears, especially as Daimler’s biographers definitely claim that the sign, which was later patented as the Mercedes logo, had been used by Gottlieb Daimler long before the company started manufacturing cars.
After the defeat of Germany in the Second World War, Mercedes cars became the life belt that allowed the company to withstand the international ban on the military industry.
Emblem
The Mercedes emblem, with the exception of the first years of the brand’s existence, was in a circle shape. Originally the emblem (the print writing MERCEDES) was made in an oval shape elongated in the horizontal direction. However, the company was faced with the fact that their closest competitor, the Italian brand Maserati, also used an oval logo, though it was elongated in the vertical direction.
Do you know that the name of the brand Mercedes was invented not by Daimler, but by the consul and the French dealer of the Daimler Company Emil Jellinek? He convinced his employer that this name was very attractive for a car, though he did not say that it was his daughter’s name. Formally, it was impossible to find fault with Emil Jellinek’s suggestion, because his daughter’s name was Adrian Manuela Ramona. So the girl’s home name became the name of one of the most successful brands in the history of automotive industry.
The attempt to make the logo look like just an acute-angled star with three rays turned out to be not very successful (nor did a star with four rays find its practical application). The shape of the circle in which the three-rayed star was inscribed was recognized as optimal.
Font
The print element was used in the Mercedes logo only in the first third of the twentieth century. Subsequently, it was decided to abandon it. The reason for such a decision was that the brand had already become well-known by that time.
Since the font has never performed the main function in the logo, it is difficult to say anything about its uniqueness or even any individuality. This is a classic font which is easy enough to read, with the same line thickness in all the letters.
Color
During the first three decades of the Mercedes brand’s existence its logo changed a lot. The color solution of the logo changed as well. In the first years the three-rayed star was gold, white, red, blue, crowned with a golden laurel wreath. In 1916 the star, the main element of the logo, was made silver. From 1933 till the end of World War II the star was black, but later the brand returned to the silver logo, having already got rid of all the other decorative elements. Only the star inscribed in a silver circle.
What does the Mercedes-Benz logo represent?
The iconic logo of the Mercedes-Benz company, the elegant and sophisticated three-pointed star, inscribed into a circular frame, represents the power and reliability of the engines, produced by the Daimler Corporation.
Why did Mercedes choose their logo?
The Mercedes-Benz three-pointed star in a circular frame, which has already become iconic, was adopted as the primary emblem of the company in 1916, and since then has only slightly refined its contours. The emblem was designed by the owners of the brand, Adolf and Paul Daimler, who were inspired by an image from the postcard they received from their father, Gottlieb Daimler, at the beginning of the 1870s. It was a star, which Gottlieb marked his birthplace with, accompanying it with the wishes for the new fabric to glow and shine.
What does the Mercedes-Benz emblem represent?
There are several interpretations of the iconic three-pointed star on the Mercedes-Benz badge. The first is that the three rays are the names of three people: Wilhelm Maybach, the great engineer and designer, Emil Jellinek, and his daughter Mercedes. According to another version, the Star symbolizes the dominance of the company on land, in the sea, and the sky.
What Mercedes car has the glowing emblem?
The glowing emblems on the Mercedes cars are the iconic silver three-pointed star in a circle badge with LED lighting. The cars, equipped with this kind of badge are mainly Mercedes-Benz GLE and GLS class SUVs, as well as some CLS and E-class sedans. However, in 2020/2021, some Mercedes-Benz cars began to be recalled due to a faulty glow star, which causes different sorts of problems.
What does the Mercedes symbol represent?
The three-beam star symbolizes the superiority of the brand in all directions: on land, on water, and in the air, since Daimler produced marine and aircraft engines in addition to cars. The three-beam star also signifies the trinity of the Mercedes car for the driver, passenger, and mechanic.