Rimac Logo: A Superhero Shield Born in Croatia

The Rimac story began in 2008 with a combustion-engined BMW that Mate Rimac turned electric in his garage. Its shield badge was meant to belong in the league of Bugatti and Pagani.

Country: Croatia
Active: Since 2009
Founded by: Mate Rimac
Website: Official website ↗

A broken BMW and a garage in Croatia

Rimac began with a car that let its owner down. Mate Rimac was racing an old 1984 BMW 3 Series E30 when its combustion engine failed, so in 2008 he did something unusual. He converted it to battery power in his garage.

A year later, in 2009, he founded Rimac Automobili and gave it his own family name. Rimac says he was inspired by a fellow Croatian, the engineer and futurist Nikola Tesla. In 2013 the young company moved into its headquarters in Sveta Nedelja, on the outskirts of Zagreb.

The first car to wear the badge arrived quickly. The Concept_One electric supercar made its international debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, with a carbon fibre body drawn by Adriano Mudri.

A superhero badge for a Croatian supercar

Rimac’s logo and visual identity came from the Croatian agency Bruketa&Žinić, which had worked with the company since 2009. In a 2011 project note, the agency said that Mate Rimac reminded its team of a superhero. That’s why, in its words, the identity was inspired by superhero symbols.

The brief was ambitious for a start-up. Speaking to the agency in 2014, Monika Mikac of Rimac’s marketing team said the company wanted a logo that would fit a luxury super sports car brand in the league of Bugatti, Pagani and Koenigsegg. It also had to blend into the design of the car itself. The feedback she reported? People often said it reminded them of superheroes.

An R inside a shield

In the logo files Rimac’s media centre supplies to the press, the emblem is a pointed shield outline with a stylised capital R inside it. Below it sits the name RIMAC in wide, angular capitals, with the word AUTOMOBILI spaced out in a thin line underneath.

Rimac doesn’t explain the shield or the R in its published material. Some logo sites read the R as a nod to aerodynamics or electric power, but that idea doesn’t appear in Rimac’s own material. What the designers did explain is the palette: Bruketa&Žinić said the colours and motifs of the 2011 identity came from the two main materials of the car, aluminium and carbon fibre.

A necktie on the flanks

Rimac has a second signature, and it isn’t on the nose. It’s the cravat, a necktie shape cut into the side of the car. “Since the 17th Century, the necktie has provided a symbol of Croatian strength and identity,” Rimac’s director of design Adriano Mudri said when the Nevera was launched, “and we first paid tribute to it on our Concept_One hypercar in 2011.”

It’s not just decoration. On the Nevera, the cravat works as an air intake for the rear cooling systems. The shape also travelled off the car: a 2023 Core77 Design Awards entry for Rimac’s brand design describes the kravat as an integral part of the brand’s graphics and communication.

Video: Rebellious, Relentless, Radical, Rimac (RimacAutomobili)

Named after storms, built for records

Rimac builds very few cars, and each one has been a statement. Its flagship even borrowed its name from the weather: a nevera, Rimac explains, is what locals call a quick, unexpected and mighty Mediterranean storm that races across the open sea off Croatia.

Landmark Rimacs, year by year

2011: Concept_One. The electric supercar that introduced Rimac at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and the first to carry the cravat on its sides.
2018: C_Two. Revealed as a concept at the Geneva Motor Show, it became the starting point for the Nevera.
2021: Nevera. The production version of the C_Two, unveiled on 1 June 2021. Rimac limited it to 150 cars, each personally signed off by Mate Rimac.
2023: Nevera Time Attack. A limited edition shown at Monterey Car Week in the year Rimac broke more than 20 performance records.
2024: Nevera R. Revealed on stage at The Quail during Monterey Car Week in August 2024, as Rimac marked its 15th anniversary.

Rimac also became a supplier. By 2021 it was building electric drivetrain and battery systems for carmakers including Aston Martin, Porsche, Pininfarina, Hyundai and Kia. That same year it joined forces with Bugatti in a new company, Bugatti Rimac, in which Rimac Group holds the 55% majority. The two brands kept their own badges: no hypercar wears a combined Bugatti Rimac logo. For more on how marks like these come together, see how car logos are designed.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Rimac logo look like?

It is a pointed shield outline with a stylised capital R inside, usually shown above the RIMAC wordmark and the word AUTOMOBILI. Rimac has not published an official meaning for the shield or the R.

Who designed the Rimac logo?

The Croatian agency Bruketa&Žinić created Rimac’s logo and visual identity. The agency says the identity was inspired by superhero symbols, with colours and motifs taken from aluminium and carbon fibre.

What does the name Nevera mean?

According to Rimac, a nevera is the local name for a quick, unexpected and mighty Mediterranean storm that races across the open sea off Croatia.

Why is there a necktie shape on the side of a Rimac?

It is the cravat, a tribute to the necktie as a Croatian symbol, first used on the Concept_One in 2011. On the Nevera it also works as an air intake for the rear cooling systems.

Is Rimac part of Bugatti?

Not quite. In 2021 the two joined forces in Bugatti Rimac, a company in which Rimac Group holds the 55% majority. Bugatti and Rimac remain separate brands with their own badges.