Friday Fives: Do you know the meaning of these car logos?

This week we look at five car companies’ logos that we are familiar with but have a deeper meaning. By Jerrica Leong

Popular car logos are something of a house-hold thing to most of us, especially if the brand is a Japanese or German marque. We see in our daily lives but have you ever wondered what the meanings behind these logos are? Some might surprise you!

Toyota

The three oval symbols in the logo represent three hearts. The inner ovals depict the heart of the customer and the heart of the company. The ovals are overlapped to represent a mutual beneficial relationship and trust between the customer and the company. The outer oval represents the world embracing Toyota.

We certainly did embraced Toyota if the amount of Toyotas on the road is any indication!

Mercedes-Benz

Ever wondered why Mercedes has a tri-star in a circle as their logo? Well, the three-pointed star separates the circle into three parts that stands for the land, the sea and the sky, to signify the company’s dominance over all three areas. Well originally that is, before various small additions were made to the logo.

Mazda

The name of the company came from the god of wisdom, intelligence and harmony, Ahura Mazda, while the company’s logo has undergone major changes since its creation the current logo was introduced in 1998. It is a stylised M that evokes an image in flight that represents the brand’s flight toward the future, the V in the centre of the M spreads out like an opening fan to represent creativity, vitality, flexibility and passion. The dynamic circle symbolises the brand’s readiness to spread their wings as they head into the future.

Volvo

Contrary to popular belief, Volvo’s logo does not depict the gender symbol this belief probably started when Volvo’s interior became popular with women and btw, that is Mar’s symbol so its really the male symbol. In all seriousness, Volvo’s circle with an arrow pointing out is actually inspired by an ancient chemical symbol for iron. It is one of the oldest ideograms in Western culture and its intend was to depict a modern design.

Subaru

While the less knowledgeable of us would think that it’s just a cluster of stars but there is a deeper meaning to this. The stars are actually a reference to Pleiadas, a cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus. Bet most of you guys didn’t know that the word Subaru is actually the Japanese name for Taurus!

Sources from businessinsider.com, Mercedes-benz official website, wonderfulengineering.com