Car logos

The name Mitsubishi literally describes its logo: mitsu means three and hishi a diamond shape. Yataro Iwasaki’s emblem first flew on ship flags in 1870 and has been on Mitsubishi Motors’ grilles again since 1992.

The Mini started life in 1959 wearing Austin and Morris badges. Here is how it got the winged wheel logo, and why it went flat in 2018.

MG’s octagon started life in Morris Garages adverts in Oxford in 1923. Here is how the badge reached the cars, who owns it now and why its birthday is still debated.

The Mercedes-Benz star began as a mark on a family postcard and the wreath as the trademark of Benz & Cie. Here is how the two came together in 1926, and why the company says the three points stand for land, water and air.

What the winged M means according to Mazda, where the name comes from, and the main versions of the Mazda emblem since 1920.

McLaren’s first badge put a kiwi on a chequered flag. Today the Speedmark leads, and since 2026 it sits beside a wordmark inspired by the sign on Bruce McLaren’s family service station.

Maybach began in 1909 building engines for Zeppelin airships and adopted its double M emblem in 1918. Today the name lives on as Mercedes-Maybach.

The Lotus roundel carries Colin Chapman’s ACBC monogram above a name whose origin he and Hazel Chapman never revealed. Here is how the badge evolved, up to its flat 2019 redesign.

The Maserati trident was drawn by the artist of the family, Mario Maserati, from the statue of Neptune in Bologna. Here is how it went from a silver rectangle on the Tipo 26 to the satin badge on the MC20.

Lincoln began in 1917 building aircraft engines and was named after Abraham Lincoln. Its four-point star was designed in 1955 for the Continental Mark II.