Ettore Bugatti fixed a red oval badge with his initials to his first car in 1909. More than a century later, Bugatti still hand-makes that same badge in sterling silver.
- Country
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France - Active
- Since 1909
- Founded by
- Ettore Bugatti
- Website
- Official website ↗
An Italian in Alsace
Bugatti is French. It says so itself: the only French luxury automotive brand, at home in Alsace. Yet the man behind it was Italian. In 1909 Ettore Bugatti, in the company’s words, took his fate into his own hands and moved with his family to Molsheim to found his own company. The brand has never really left.
The name is simply the family name, and it was a family worth knowing. Ettore’s father Carlo designed and built furniture, much of it in an oriental style, and he had a thing for ovals. According to Bugatti, Carlo considered the oval the perfect geometrical shape, superior to all others. Keep that in mind. It explains both the egg-shaped radiator of the early cars and the badge that sits on it. Ettore’s brother Rembrandt was a sculptor, and his dancing elephant later became the radiator mascot of the Type 41 Royale.
The 1920s took Bugatti to the top of the motoring world, with Ettore’s son Jean playing a growing part. Then the story turned dark. Jean was killed on 11 August 1939, aged 30, when he swerved to avoid a cyclist during a test drive near the factory. War followed within weeks. Ettore died in August 1947, and his son Roland could not turn the business around. In 1963 the company was sold to Hispano-Suiza, and for decades its tools and know-how served aeronautics rather than cars.
Two revivals and a new partner
Bugatti has been brought back to life twice. In 1987 the Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli revived the name and built a new plant in Campogalliano. Its one car, the EB110, was unveiled in Paris on 15 September 1991, exactly 110 years after Ettore’s birth. Only 139 were built before the factory closed.
The second revival came in 1998, when the Volkswagen Group took over the brand and moved it home to Molsheim. A new atelier opened there in 2005 to hand-build the Veyron. The latest chapter began on 2 November 2021 with Bugatti Rimac, a joint company in which the Rimac Group holds 55 percent and Porsche 45 percent. Mate Rimac, founder of Rimac Automobili, became its CEO. The Bugatti brand kept its headquarters in Molsheim, and every car is still built there.
The macaron: EB, a red oval and 60 dots
Bugatti calls its badge the macaron, and it has barely changed since the beginning. According to the company, it was fixed to the radiator of the Type 13, the first official Bugatti, in late 1909. The idea came from Ettore himself. He had already developed a similar logo for his previous employer, Deutz in Cologne, and he preferred a flat, high-quality badge to the radiator figures that were fashionable at the time.
The design is an oval with the name BUGATTI in white on a red background. Above the lettering sit the black initials EB, for Ettore Bugatti. Around the edge, on a white border, runs a ring of 60 red dots. Bugatti is careful about what the dots mean. In its own words, “according to the legend” they symbolise pearls or threads in a style that conformed to Art Nouveau fashion. You will also read that they represent safety wire or the stitching on a jewel case. Neither of those appears in Bugatti’s explanation.
One more thing you may have heard: that Carlo Bugatti, the furniture designer, drew the badge for his son. Many logo sites say so. Bugatti’s own account credits Ettore, so treat the Carlo version as a theory. What is certain is that the oval, Carlo’s favourite shape, lives on in it.
The shape has a surprisingly precise origin. Bugatti describes it as a 45 millimetre cylinder cut at an angle of 30 degrees. On today’s cars the badge is made from 970 sterling silver and enamel, weighs 159 grams with its fixings and takes around ten hours of handwork spread over several days. Since 2003 it has been produced by a mint in Bavaria, not by a car-parts supplier.
Create the Incomparable: the 2022 identity
On 25 July 2022 Bugatti presented a new corporate identity developed with the consultancy Interbrand, under the motto “Create the Incomparable”. It brought new typefaces and a vibrant Bugatti Blue that nods to the brand’s French origins, and it kept the EB monogram as a central element. The release quotes a line attributed to Ettore: “If comparable, it is no longer Bugatti.” Motoring press reported that the flat wordmark used online dropped the red background. The macaron itself stayed on the cars.
Red, white, black and a touch of blue
Bugatti gives each colour of the macaron a job. Red stands for power and passion, white for elegance and nobility, and black for excellence and courage. Blue arrived with the 2022 identity as a brand colour rather than a badge colour, chosen, in Bugatti’s words, as a reference to the brand’s French origins.
From Type 35 to Tourbillon
Few badges have sat on such extremes: a tiny Grand Prix car that won almost everything, a limousine with an elephant on the nose, and the first production car past 400 km/h.
Landmark Bugattis, decade by decade
- 1924: Type 35. Made its competition debut at the Lyon Grand Prix and went on to some 2,500 victories, including five Targa Florio wins in a row from 1925 to 1929. Bugatti calls it the most successful race car in history.
- 1926: Type 41 Royale. Ettore’s giant luxury car, wearing Rembrandt Bugatti’s dancing elephant as a mascot.
- 1936: Type 57 SC Atlantic. Designed by Jean Bugatti; only four were built. His own car, La Voiture Noire, has been untraced since 1938.
- 1991: EB110. The Artioli-era supercar, revealed in Paris on Ettore’s 110th birthday; 139 were built.
- 2005: Veyron 16.4. An 8.0-litre, 16-cylinder, four-turbo engine with 1,001 PS and a top speed of 407 km/h. Named after Pierre Veyron, who co-won Le Mans for Bugatti in 1939. 450 were built up to 2015.
- 2016: Chiron. Premiered at the Geneva Motor Show, named after the Monegasque driver Louis Chiron, who won for Bugatti in the 1920s and 1930s.
- 2024: Tourbillon. Unveiled on 20 June 2024 at Chateau Saint Jean in Molsheim, with an all-new V16 engine and an electrified powertrain.
Bugatti’s closest relatives today are Rimac Automobili and Porsche, its partners in Bugatti Rimac, while Volkswagen Group stablemates such as Lamborghini and Bentley share its recent past. On the road it is measured against Koenigsegg and Pagani. For more on how badges like the macaron are put together, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What do the 60 dots on the Bugatti logo mean?
Bugatti itself only offers a legend: the 60 dots symbolise pearls or threads in the Art Nouveau style of the time. Other explanations, such as safety wire, are popular but do not come from the company.
What does EB stand for on the Bugatti badge?
The initials of Ettore Bugatti, who founded the company in Molsheim in 1909. The EB monogram was kept as a central element of the 2022 corporate identity.
Who designed the Bugatti logo?
According to Bugatti, the idea for the red oval with white lettering came from Ettore Bugatti himself, who had already created a similar badge for his former employer Deutz. Some sources credit his father Carlo, but that does not appear in Bugatti’s own account.
Is the Bugatti badge really made of silver?
Yes. Bugatti says the macaron on its current cars is made of 970 sterling silver with enamel, weighs 159 grams including its fixings, and takes about ten hours of handwork spread over several days.
Who owns Bugatti today?
Since November 2021 the brand has been part of Bugatti Rimac, a joint company owned 55 percent by the Rimac Group and 45 percent by Porsche. The brand’s headquarters and production remain in Molsheim, France.
The macaron file
- Founded
- 1909
- Founder
- Ettore Bugatti
- Country
- France
- Headquarters
- Molsheim, France
- Parent company
- Bugatti Rimac (Rimac Group 55%, Porsche 45%)
- Current emblem
- A red oval with BUGATTI in white, the black initials EB above and a ring of 60 dots, on the cars since 1909
- Known for
- Hypercars built by hand in Molsheim and the Type 35 racing legend
- Website
- Official website ↗
