The first Corvette emblem crossed a checkered flag with the Stars and Stripes. Using the US flag on a commercial product wasn't allowed, so before production began in June 1953 it became a bowtie and a fleur-de-lis.
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United States - Active
- Since 1953
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A dream car that went on sale
The Corvette started life as a show car. On 17 January 1953, the opening day of GM’s Motorama, it stood on display at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Behind it was Harley Earl, GM’s design chief, who had been running a secret project since 1951. Its code name, oddly enough, was Project Opel.
Then something unusual happened. The dream car went into production. The first one was built in Flint, Michigan, on 30 June 1953, and only 300 were made that year, virtually by hand on a pilot line. Every one of them was Polo White with a red interior. According to GM, it was the first mass-produced car with a plastic-laminated fiberglass body.
The name came from a warship. A corvette is a small, fast naval vessel, and GM credits Myron Scott of its public relations team with the idea. A naming contest had drawn about 300 entries, but none of them was picked.
The engineer who wrote a letter
Among the crowds who saw the 1953 car was Zora Arkus-Duntov, an engineer raised in Saint Petersburg. He wrote to GM with suggestions for more performance and was soon hired. He became the first chief engineer of the Corvette program and pushed the car towards serious speed until he retired in 1975.
The car moved house too. Production went to St. Louis in 1954 and to Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1981.
Two flags, one problem
The Corvette has always worn crossed flags. Chevrolet describes the emblem as a racing checkered flag paired with a second flag carrying the Chevrolet bowtie and a French fleur-de-lis, a combination it has used since 1953.
It nearly looked very different. The emblem first drawn for the Motorama car crossed the checkered flag with the American flag. Using the US flag on a commercial product wasn’t allowed, so, as Chevrolet puts it, the badge was changed to the fleur-de-lis and bowtie design before production began in June 1953.
The Corvette Action Center, a long-running enthusiast history site, credits that first design to Robert Bartholomew, an interior designer at Chevrolet, and says the order to redesign it came just four days before the show. Its account also explains the fleur-de-lis: Chevrolet looked for a family crest, found none, and chose a French symbol because Chevrolet is a French name. That story doesn’t appear in Chevrolet’s own short history of the emblem.
A new pair of flags for every generation
The flags have stayed, but the drawing hasn’t. In Chevrolet’s words, every generation has had its own unique design, with an emblem that reflects the spirit of Corvette.
For the seventh generation, Chevrolet started from scratch. The new emblem was unveiled at Road Atlanta in 2012, and more than 100 variations were considered before the final one was chosen. It is more technical and angular than before, with a swept look to match the car’s proportions, plus more depth, colour and detail. “The all-new, seventh-generation Corvette deserved an all-new emblem,” said Ed Welburn, GM’s vice president of global design.
The eighth generation got its flags in April 2019, in a video on the official Corvette Facebook page that ran through the emblems of every generation. The C8 version is an evolution of the C7 badge: more compact, with the two flags pushed closer together.
From Polo White to mid-engine
Seven decades of Corvettes have carried the crossed flags. A few of them mark real turning points.
Landmark Corvettes, generation by generation
- 1953: Corvette. The first production car, built in Flint on 30 June 1953, with a 150 hp six-cylinder engine.
- 1954: Corvette. Production moved to St. Louis, and blue joined Polo White as a second colour.
- 2014: Corvette Stingray. The seventh generation, revealed in Detroit on 13 January 2013. Only two parts were carried over from the C6.
- 2020: Corvette Stingray. Revealed on 18 July 2019, the first Corvette with a mid-mounted engine.
The Corvette is part of Chevrolet, which is why its flag still carries the bowtie, and Chevrolet in turn belongs to General Motors. For more on how emblems like these come together, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Corvette logo mean?
It is a pair of crossed flags. According to Chevrolet, one is a racing checkered flag and the other carries the Chevrolet bowtie and a French fleur-de-lis.
Why was the American flag removed from the Corvette emblem?
The original 1953 design paired the checkered flag with the American flag. Because using the US flag on a commercial product wasn’t allowed, Chevrolet switched to the fleur-de-lis and bowtie flag before production began in June 1953.
Where does the name Corvette come from?
A corvette is a small, fast warship. GM credits Myron Scott of its public relations team with suggesting the name.
Does every Corvette generation have a different emblem?
Yes. Chevrolet says every generation has had its own design of the crossed flags. The current C8 version, shown in April 2019, is a more compact evolution of the C7 emblem.
Waldorf Astoria to Bowling Green: the crossed-flags logbook
- Founded
- 1953
- Country
- United States
- Headquarters
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Parent company
- Chevrolet (General Motors)
- Current emblem
- Crossed flags: a checkered flag and a flag with the Chevrolet bowtie and fleur-de-lis, C8 version shown in April 2019
- Known for
- America's fiberglass sports car, from the 1953 Polo White roadster to the mid-engine C8
- Website
- Official website ↗
