In 1947 Rover's engineering director Maurice Wilks drew the outline of a go-anywhere workhorse in the sand at Red Wharf Bay. A year later the Land Rover made its debut in Amsterdam.
- Country
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United Kingdom - Active
- Since 1948
- Founded by
- Maurice Wilks and Spencer Wilks
- Website
- Official website ↗
A tractor drawn in the sand
Land Rover began on a beach. In 1947 Maurice Wilks, engineering director of the Rover company, sketched the outline of a new vehicle in the sand of Red Wharf Bay on Anglesey and pitched the idea to his brother Spencer, Rover’s managing director.
The Wilks family owned land on the Welsh island, and Maurice wanted something that could work as a light tractor and still go anywhere off the road. “That was the start of it all, the conception of Land Rover,” his son Stephen later said. The design was christened the Land Rover, and its outline is the one we now know as the Defender.
Things moved fast. The first pre-production vehicle, registered HUE 166 and nicknamed Huey, dates from 1947. On 30 April 1948 the Land Rover was shown to the world at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
From one model to a family of names
For years the name belonged to a single vehicle built by Rover. Then the family grew. The Range Rover arrived in 1970 and the Discovery in 1989, which Land Rover calls its third model. A year later the original was given a name of its own: Defender. Land Rover kept the beach in its story, too. In 2015 a fleet of six Land Rovers towing harrows drew a Defender outline 1km across on the same sands at Red Wharf Bay, with Stephen and Nick Wilks, the sons of Maurice and Spencer, helping out.
The green oval: from badge to trust mark
The Land Rover mark is a green oval carrying the Land Rover name. It is simple, and it has never needed a secret code to work. We found no official explanation from Land Rover or JLR of why the badge is an oval or why it is green, so we won’t invent one.
You will find plenty of badge timelines online, with different dates for when the oval first appeared and how it was redrawn over the decades. They don’t agree with each other, and Land Rover hasn’t published its own version, so treat them with care.
The biggest change to the badge wasn’t a new drawing at all. It was a change of job. In April 2023 JLR announced a House of Brands strategy in which Range Rover, Defender and Discovery would be promoted as brands in their own right, alongside Jaguar. Reports at the time said the Land Rover name was being dropped, and JLR responded that Land Rover would remain the trust mark underpinning the capability of all three.
When Jaguar Land Rover unveiled its new corporate identity as JLR on 1 June 2023, it repeated the point. Land Rover, the company said, continues as a world-renowned heritage mark, staying on the vehicles, websites, social media and retail sites. So the oval is still there. It just signs for the family rather than leading it.
Seven decades of going anywhere
Since 1948 the green oval has been carried by working vehicles, expedition machines and, eventually, luxury SUVs. A few of them changed what a four-wheel drive could be.
Landmark Land Rovers, decade by decade
- 1948: Series I. The original Land Rover, launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
- 1958: Series II. Unveiled with a more refined design.
- 1970: Range Rover. The original two-door Range Rover, now known as the Classic, went on sale.
- 1989: Discovery. The third Land Rover model line.
- 1990: Defender. The original Land Rover was relaunched under this name. The last one rolled off the line at Solihull in 2016.
- 1997: Freelander. Introduced Hill Descent Control.
- 2012: Range Rover, fourth generation. Described by Land Rover as the first all-aluminium SUV.
Land Rover sits inside JLR, the company it shares with Jaguar, and JLR is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors. If you like the thinking behind badges like this one, read how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Land Rover logo mean?
The logo is a green oval with the Land Rover name. Land Rover hasn’t published an official meaning for the oval shape or the colour. Since 2023 JLR has used it as a trust mark across Range Rover, Defender and Discovery.
Who created Land Rover?
Maurice Wilks, engineering director of Rover, sketched the first Land Rover in the sand at Red Wharf Bay on Anglesey in 1947 and proposed it to his brother Spencer, Rover’s managing director.
When was the first Land Rover shown?
On 30 April 1948, at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
Is Land Rover still a brand?
Under JLR’s House of Brands approach, announced in 2023, Range Rover, Defender and Discovery are promoted as brands. Land Rover stays on the vehicles as what JLR calls a trust mark and a heritage mark.
Who owns Land Rover?
Land Rover is part of JLR, formerly Jaguar Land Rover, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors.
From Red Wharf Bay sand to the green oval
- Founded
- 1948
- Founder
- Maurice Wilks and Spencer Wilks
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Headquarters
- Coventry, United Kingdom
- Parent company
- JLR (Tata Motors)
- Current emblem
- A green oval with the Land Rover name, used by JLR since 2023 as a trust mark across Range Rover, Defender and Discovery
- Known for
- The original Land Rover (later Defender), Range Rover and Discovery
- Website
- Official website ↗
