It might seem weird, but the Star, which is one of the most popular symbols for visual identities of different brands, is not often used by car, Marques. Though it is a symbol of power and precision, not many automakers have found a way to adapt it to their badges. Maybe the reason is in the meaning, as Star is associated with glory and success, and is pretty pretentious and requires a high degree of responsibility from the brand using it.
The list of auto brands, which use stars for their logos, consists of companies from all over the world, and this diversity is supported by the various shapes of the stars — from three-pointed elegant and stylized to traditional five-pointed symbols, from one star as the main hero of the visual identity to dozens, used for framing and ac-centing.
Let’s have a look at the most famous car brands with stars and learn the meaning of these emblems.
The most famous and one of the least obvious car badges with a star is the logo of Mercedes-Benz. For many, this sophisticated three-pointed star is associated with comfort, luxury, prestige, and German quality and reliability.
The three-beam star became the emblem for Mercedes-Benz in 1909. There were three rays in the star because the engines, which were developed by Gottlieb Daimler, were made for cars, aviation, and ships. But it had nothing to do with Mercedes. The founder of the first steam engine, Karl Benz, registered his trademark, the steering wheel, in 1903. And only in 1926, there was a merge of two logos: a laurel wreath, which today is replaced by a circle, and a three-beam star.
There is also an alternative version for the Mercedes-Benz logo meaning. The three rays of the star are three people: Wilhelm Maybach, the designer of the cars, Emil Jellinek, Austrian Consul, and his daughter Mercedes.
The second most popular automobile star badge can be seen on the bonnets of the Japanese Subaru cars. The Subaru logo is a blue oval with a chrome border, en-closing a galaxy of six four-pointed stars. Subaru is the Japanese name of the M45 cluster in the constellation of Taurus, and this name was chosen because the au-tomaker appeared as a result of a merger of 6 companies, headed by the parent — Fuji Heavy Industries. The larger star on the left represents Fuji Heavy Industries, and the five smaller stars on the right represent its subsidiaries, including Subaru, the automobile division.
Chrysler is one of the brands, which used a star emblem, but abandoned it in favor of a more traditional auto industry symbol — wings. When Cerberus Capital Man-agement became part of the Chrysler Group, the traditional “Pentastar” (star in a pentagon) was given new life as the official corporate identity. However, after forming the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Group (FCA), management decided to update the emblem, so now there’s no trace of the star left.
The iconic Chrysler Pentastar was introduced in 1962. Designed by Robert Stanley, it was this symbol that Lynn Townsend, one of the company’s directors, chose from among seven hundred suggestions. He wanted to find a logo that would be memo-rable, modern, versatile, and less pretentious at the same time. There is a theory that the five ends of the star represent Chrysler’s five brands: Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth, Imperial, and Airtemp.
Another American brand with the star on its badge, and in its name, is Western Star. The visual identity of the truck manufacturer is a graphical reflection of its name. The logo consists of a capital “W” and a five-pointed star. This design emphasizes the name of the company, while the blue, red, and silver color palette stands for patriotism, reliability, and passion.
Initially, the Pontiac emblem was designed in the form of an Indian headdress, but in 1957 it was updated, and the brand logo became similar to the red arrow, located on the splitting of the grille. This red downward-facing arrow was known as the “dart” and had a silver four-pointed star at its apex. It was a very elegant badge, which stays in memory even after the discontinuation of Pontiac production in 2010.
Polestar is a subsidiary brand of Volvo, which specializes in the production of sports road cars. The brand grew out of a sports racing organization Polestar Racing, now called Cyan Racing.
The company’s logo reflects its name, although the image is very minimalist and stylized — the four-pointed Star is composed of two boomerang-like elements, which are connected by their rounded angles. Interesting, that the famous French automaker Citroen has banned the sale of Polestar electric cars in France, a sub-sidiary of Volvo. The reason is that Polestar’s logo allegedly looks too much like Cit-roen and its own premium sub-brand DS.
The famous Chinese automaker, JAC, has a visual identity history similar to Chrysler — it used to have an elegant five-pointed Star with thin sharp beams, enclosed into a fine oval frame, as its official logo for several years, but the star was removed with the redesign of the insignia. And now the Asian car bran uses a text-based badge, which definitely looks bolder and more modern, but lacks sophistication and elegance.
Venucia is a car brand owned by Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle, which in turn is owned by Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. The brand was launched in September 2010. The name “Venucia” comes from the ancient Roman goddess Venus. Her main characteristics are love, beauty, fertility, and prosperity. The five stars of the brand logo represent the five promises of the company. They are as follows: respect for customers, creating value, always doing the best, achieving world-class quality, and following the dream.
One more Chinese brand in our list in Englon. Launched in 2010 and replacing the Shanghai Maple brand, Englon replicates the classic British style. The company’s cars are quite widespread in the Chinese market. Since Geely fully acquired The London Taxi Company in 2013, the Englon emblem also became the new logo of The London Taxi Company.
The badge of the automaker depicts six silver five-pointed stars, placed on a blue background in the left part of a bright and elegant circular emblem. The right part of the logo features a gold image of a goddess set in red.
The Turkish automaker ceased its operations in 2015, and before that Askam was known as a truck and commercial vehicle manufacturer. The logo of the brand fea-tured a very masculine and powerful composition, executed in a black and silver color palette. The sharp and bold four-pointed Star was set in the middle of a black horizontal oval and enclosed into a thick silver frame, formed by two swoosh-like lines.
At the beginning of its path, the historical French auto brand used to manufacture steel fittings and stamped steel components. It was founded in 1939 to produce components for military aircraft, and only in 1945, together with the Métallon company, Facel began producing cars based on Simca, Ford, Panhard, and Delahaye models.
The logo of the brand featured a modern circular emblem with a strong geometric monogram in the center, and six black five-pointed stars, placed on a thick silver frame, accompanied by the full brand’s name written in black sans-serif letters.
The last brand on our list is Berkeley, a historical British automaker, which ceased all operations in 1960. The manufacturer appeared in 1913 and was engaged in the assembly of microcars on motorcycle engines. The Berkeley logo boasted a circular badge in white and red, with a stylized letter “B” placed in the middle and enclosed into a golden frame, with the name of the brand written along its top part, and five small stars arched on the bottom.
Durant Motors was an American manufacturer of sedans and tourers in the 1920-30s. They used several badges that featured a griffin. This one was commonly used by their Star brand of cars. It pictured a griffin standing on top of a star with a rectangular shape of black, white and red in the middle, saying ‘Star’. It was then put onto a black circle and framed with a grey ring that featured the company’s name.
Jeep is a famous American producer of off-road cars, SUVs and so forth. Established in 1945, they’ve long used the same emblem. It resembled a pentagon with a thin star inside. It starts in the center and extends its tips towards each of the angles. As a result, it looks like the star divides the figure into 5 triangular sections.
What do car badges mean?
Today there is a huge variety of auto brands, and each of them has its unique logo, which has to represent the company and depicts its strongest points and peculiarities. The badge on the cars reflects the essence of the brand, standing for the company’s values and sometimes — roots.
Which car brand has a star logo?
There are many car brands from different countries and price segments, which use logos with a stylized or more literate depiction of a star on them. Such brands are Mercedes, Subaru, Chrysler, JAC, and many others.
What car has a 4-point star logo?
Usually, the automaking brands build their logos on an image of a five-pointed star. However, there are exceptions, and you can see badges with the four-pointed star. One such brand is Subaru, where all of the six stars on the badge have only four points. Another example is the Polestar badge, where the star is formed by two mirrored ticks.
How many car logos are there in the world?
Each of the car brands, that exists a j the world today, has its logo, but some of the automakers use different badges for different car models, not to mention historical and discontinued brands, and old logo versions, so it’s not easy to count. However, we can say, that currently in the world there are over 60 major auto marques, hence the number of logos can not be lower.
What is the car brand with 3 stars?
The most famous car badge with a three-pointed star is definitely, the logo of the luxury German company, Mercedes-Benz. The first version of the iconic Mercedes Star was introduced in 1916, and by today it has become a symbol of elegance and luxury.