Mustang is a brand of an American iconic car, which is manufactured by Ford Group. The first car of the label was created in 1964. Since the beginning of its history, Mustang produced over 10 million cars.
The first car under the Mustang brand was introduced by Ford in 1964. The company created it with the idea of a young, luxurious yet affordable sports car. Ford Mustang became a legend and its famous logo is instantly recognizable across the globe.
During its prelaunch, the car was named Cougar and even had a logo with this animal on the earliest models. But the company decided to change its name. There were a lot of options to choose from Allegro, Torino, Avanti. Finally, the brand was called after the fighter plane, known as the P-51 Mustang, not the horse.
Ford spent some time choosing the right name and visual identity design for the brand, but once it was done, the Mustang logo stuck to the car and remained almost untouched by today.
One of the most iconic car emblems was created in 1964. The famous running horse was designed by Phil Clark and was only slightly modified during the years.
In the 1964 version of the logo, the horse is more galloping than running, its head and neck are horizontal. Later it changes to a running horse we all know today. Also throughout the years, the emblem became crisper and more brutal, the lines of the silhouette were made stronger and more distinct.
The creation of the Mustang emblem took about one year, as the brand couldn’t decide how they want the horse to look like and what direction to be turned to.
There are several versions of why the famous mustang was drawn running from right to left.
The first one says, that it was because the artist was right-handed and it was just easier for him to draw a horse galloping that way, the other version is that it symbolizes the car’s free spirit, showing the horse running in the opposite direction from others. One more version is that it was made by mistake when being converted from the original drawing.
No matter what the real reason is, Ford Mustang’s running pony is an iconic emblem, which reflects the company’s values of speed, freedom, and style.
The silver color of the Mustang symbol is a perfect choice to show the dynamics and power of the brand.
Mustang cars’ iconic red color is a perfect background for the emblem placement and makes it look even more modern and luxurious.
Being bright and stylish, the silver emblem also evokes a sense of professionalism and authority of the brand, while placed on red it celebrates the passion for speed and freedom.
During the years some elements were added to the Mustang logo — it was placed on a pink ribbon (for the breast cancer), on a tricolor vertical rectangular (for the American flag colors), but the base of the logo is minimalist and simple, which is the reason of why it looks proper and elegant on any background.