Text?|?Brother Dao

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After the century-old car brand BMW changed its logo again in 1997, it also made BMW’s The origin and evolution history of LOGO has become a topic of discussion online.

Before preparing to write this article, I conducted a small survey on Weibo, and the results were as expected. Since the founding of the factory in 1917, the president has only released LOGO 6 times. But for many years, many people have thought that the origin of the LOGO comes from the past history of producing aircraft engines. The LOGO features white aircraft propellers with a blue and clear sky, but this is not the case at all.

1917

First edition: birth

▲Rapp? Motorenwerke company LOGO

Strictly speaking, the history of BMW is actually It dates back to 1913, when it was known as "Rapp Motorenwerke" as an aircraft engine manufacturer. At that time, the words "?B", "?M" and "?W" did not appear on the company's LOGO.

In 1917, founder Karl Rapp left the company and registered a new company in Munich and changed its name to Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavaria Engine Manufacturing Co., Ltd.). To complete the trademark registration and follow its lineage, BMW's new LOGO continues the company's tradition, a black ring engraved with a gold outline and the company name on it, while also deciding to use the blue of the Bavarian flag. The white and white color scheme was used, but the trademark law at the time prohibited the use of the national emblem or other symbols of sovereignty on trademarks, so BMW had to reverse the order of blue and white in the logo.

Recognition of commercial brands had not quite reached its peak in Europe in 1917, so the modified logo received little publicity. It was not until 1918 that it appeared for the first time on the cover of the Bavarian Aircraft Engine Manual. The medallion did not appear on cars until 1923.

▲Camillo?Castiglioni

So what happened in these five years? The First World War ended in 1918, and the Treaty of Versailles was officially signed in 1919 and came into effect on January 10, 1920. The treaty prohibited the production of aircraft in Germany. At that time, Bayerische Motoren Werke was already a joint-stock company. After the shareholders decided to shift its production focus to railway brakes and agricultural equipment, and achieved good economic benefits, Vienna financier Camillo Castiglioni (BMW) and Berlin brake company Knorr-Bremse AG's main shareholder) acquired a majority stake in BMW and merged its name into the latter's Knorr-Bremse AG.

In 1922, BMW's engine department separated from Knorr-Bremse and merged with the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke. In 1923, BMW launched its first motorcycle, the R32. The R32 is equipped with a 0.5-liter horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engine with a maximum power of 6.3kW and a top speed of 100km/h. This marks the first time that the BMW LOGO has come into people’s sight. In 1926, R32 sales reached 3,000 units, helping BMW emerge from the crisis after World War I.

In 1928, BMW acquired Dixi Automobil Werke AG. Dichy's only product at that time, the 3/15, was the same model as the Austin 7 produced under the license of the British Austin Motor Company, and became the BMW 3/15. In 1929, the BMW 3/15 rolled off the production line, and the BMW LOGO was officially Appeared on the car.

In 1929, BMW manufactured a new aircraft engine under the license of Pratt & Whitney. On the cover of a BMW magazine published in the same year, the blue and white pattern in the BMW LOGO was Used to represent the constantly rotating propeller, it seems to always remind people not to forget the great achievements BMW has made in aircraft engine technology in the past. It is because of the appearance of these promotional materials that many people think that BMW's LOGO comes from aircraft propellers.

BMW has no intention of correcting the public. In fact, this kind of advertisement was circulated many times by the public media. Especially in 1942, a similar advertisement appeared in a BMW company's publication "Flugmotoren? Nachrichten (Aircraft Engine News)". Since then, many Everyone thinks that the BMW LOGO comes from airplane propellers.

1933

Second Edition: Calm and Noble

In 1933, BMW launched the 303, equipped with a BMW 1.2-liter inline 6-cylinder M78 engine with a maximum power of 22kW , the maximum torque is 68Nm. Together with the first appearance of the double-kidney grille design, 303 started BMW's automotive history. Compared with the heavyweight BMW 303 model, the fact that BMW changed its logo in the same year seems "less important". This minor modification of the logo did not attract much attention, and there is very little relevant recorded information. .

The reason why BMW decided to modify its logo at this time is simply to adapt to the development of the times. Although the modified BMW logo has very small changes compared to the 1917 version of the BMW logo, the bolded double-circle golden border and fonts indeed make it look more calm and noble. When BMW first decided to develop and design its own cars, it focused on the mid-to-high-end car market at that time. From this point of view, the more calm and noble logo design style is indeed more in line with this new image.

In the third year after the new car logo was adopted, a BMW model that went down in history was born, which is the legendary 328 sports car. The 328's steel ladder frame and aluminum body bring good lightweight performance. In the end, this sports car with a total length of 3900mm only has a curb weight of 830kg. In terms of power, the car uses a 2.0L inline six-cylinder engine with a maximum power of 80 horsepower. Driven by it, the top speed of the BMW 328 can exceed 150km/h.

The superb BMW 328 sports car swept the competition at that time. In 1936, the BMW 328 made its debut at the Eifelrennen race at the Nürburgring and won the 2.0L category that day. In 1937, it won another 100 races, large and small. At Le Mans, the 328 won the 1939 class title; at the Mille Miele, it won the 1938 and 1940 class titles. The BMW 328 was discontinued in 1940. At this time, it had won countless laurels for BMW. Even after the war in 1948, when the British Frank Pratt won the Australian Grand Prix, he was still driving a BMW 328 racing car.

1953

Third Edition: Rejuvenation

BMW revised its LOGO again in 1953. The new BMW logo uses a white double circle border, white "BMW" letters, and changes the middle pattern to light blue, making it look younger.

According to relevant records, before the launch of this new LOGO, BMW did not make very strict specifications on the style of the old version of the logo, although the inner circle pattern of "blue sky and white clouds" has never changed. However, the "BMW" font color and style, double circle border thickness and color have not been unified. Product designers could make detailed adjustments on the BMW logo "template", making the types of BMW logos at that time very complicated.

However, after this logo change in the 1950s, BMW completely abandoned the golden double-circle border and the golden color of the letters in the design of its logo, and instead stipulated that the white double-circle border and the color of the letters should be uniformly used as BMW. The color scheme of the logo on the company's printed materials, and the BMW LOGO on motorcycles and cars, is a color scheme of silver double circles plus white "BMW" letters.

Two particularly important events occurred in 1952, the year before this bid change. First, BMW at its headquarters in Munich finally obtained the BMW trademark LOGO and resumed production of cars. Second, Automobilwerk Eisenach was handed over by the Soviet Union to the then East German government and officially became a state-owned enterprise (this story will be described in detail below). Since the BMW blue sky and white clouds logo can no longer be used, the old car company revised the logo and named it EMW (Eisenacher Motorenwerk), changing the blue sky and white clouds to "red sky and white clouds".

▲BMW?321

▲BMW?326

▲BMW?321

▲BMW?327

Speaking of Automobilwerk Eisenach, it is also quite legendary. In 1928, BMW established a factory in Eisenach and produced cars. Unexpectedly, World War II broke out and Germany was defeated and divided into two countries, West Germany and East Germany. Unfortunately, the area where Automobilwerk Eisenach is located is in East Germany, which is the area occupied by the former Soviet Union. After 1945, under the jurisdiction of the Soviet Union, this old car company resumed production of BMW brand cars, producing BMW 321, BMW 326, BMW 340 and BMW 327. Until 1952, these cars still wore the BMW blue sky and white clouds logo.

After the 1950s, BMW was unprepared for the growing middle class demand for cars. Like Germany during the two world wars, BMW was caught in a two-front battle. It produced luxury cars to compete with Mercedes-Benz and economic models to directly compete with Volkswagen. It is a pity that BMW lost this "war" and was defeated on both fronts. Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen both made brilliant achievements after the war, but BMW had to face huge losses.

In 1954, BMW sold its Allach factory to MAN. Later, AMC and Rootes Motors in the United States also expressed their hope to acquire BMW. At the same time, the Bavarian state government also launched a BMW rescue plan-directly Incorporated into Mercedes-Benz Car Company. BMW shareholders do not want to see any merger and acquisition plans, because in this way BMW will lose its hard-won independence. The BMW LOGO is likely to disappear from the car body and steering wheel forever. By then, only the BMW name will be retained. Motorcycles are a product.

During this difficult period, BMW was not without achievements. The famous "Egg Car" was born during this difficult period. At the 1954 Geneva Motor Show, Eberhard Wolff, head of BMW automobile development, saw the Isetta of the Italian Iso Automobile Company and immediately realized that it was exactly what he needed. Subsequently, BMW adopted Wolff's suggestion and introduced the production license of Isetta from Iso Company, and then began production of Isetta in 1955. The car used a 250cc or 300cc single-cylinder motorcycle engine. Unlike the bleak sales of its luxury models, Isetta's sales were very hot, with more than 10,000 units sold in the first year. By the time it was discontinued in 1962, BMW had sold more than 160,000 Isetta models in one year. But because the profit was too low, this car did not bring much profit to BMW.

▲Herbert Quandt (right)

▲Harald Quandt

At the end of 1959, the company held a shareholders' meeting, and Dr. Hans Feith, chairman of the supervisory board, formally proposed the merger. Plan to join Mercedes-Benz.

Dealers and small shareholders rose up against the merger, but they were at a loss as to how BMW would weather the storm. At a critical moment, the Quandt family, led by Herbert Quandt and his brother Harald, took action. They invested heavily in BMW and took control of the company.

1963

Fourth Edition: Sense of Technology

Thanks to the investment of the Quandt family, BMW was able to develop new models in the early 1960s funds. Through market research, BMW decided to position the new model as a mid-size sedan between Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.

In 1960, the "New Class" project was officially launched. BMW equipped this project with many top automotive talents: Fritz Fiedler, who was poached by the British, had returned to BMW at this time, and he served as The person in charge of the entire project. In addition, the chassis design of the new car is by Eberhard Wolff, the design style and body engineering are by Wilhelm Hofmeister, and the new engine is by Alex von Falkenhausen. Falkenhausen).

The first model of the "New Class" project, the BMW 1500, was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1961. It was officially mass-produced a year later in December 1962. The new car is a four-door sedan mid-size sedan. It adopts four-wheel independent suspension and front-wheel disc brakes have become standard equipment. The launch of the 1500 was a great success and put BMW back on track.

In 1963, BMW ushered in the third LOGO revision in history. This time the changes were still very small, including changing the light blue fan-shaped part of the old car logo back to sky blue and changing the Replaced slightly outdated fonts. The revised new car logo is more dynamic, and while maintaining the youthful features of the previous version of the logo, it has a slightly more technological feel. At the same time, it is also more able to convey the sporty and high-tech characteristics of the products of that era than before the revision. .

1997

Fifth Edition: Modernization

In the early 1990s, BMW's performance was booming, but its management was beginning to worry There are risks in the future: Japanese brands have already seized a lot of low-end market share with their product quality and production efficiency, and now they are starting to build their own high-end brands; the cyclical depression of the macro economy will make BMW, which does not have the advantage of scale, Businesses are in danger of being taken over. In fact, both General Motors and Ford have expressed interest in acquiring BMW.

▲BMW CEO Pischetsrieder (right)

If you want to survive, you must continue to grow. BMW executives know this truth and are preparing to extend their business through the acquisition of Land Rover. In the increasingly popular SUV field, BMW finally got what it wanted, but the price it paid was the purchase of the terminally ill Rover. Rover's consecutive losses finally exhausted BMW's confidence. At this time, the Germans realized that they had to get rid of this burden as soon as possible in order to protect themselves. In 2000, BMW packaged MG and Rover into the MG Rover Group and sold it to the British Phoenix Investment Company. Rover, which was purchased for 800 million pounds, is now sold for a symbolic 10 pounds. Also being sold was the Land Rover brand. Although its condition was far better than Rover, BMW already had its own X5 SUV at this time, so Land Rover was sold to Ford.

In 1997, 10 years after the break-up, BMW made another modification to the LOGO. This time the modification was also small, that is, a three-dimensional logo was added to the old version of the logo. The effect is that the revised logo not only retains all the characteristics of the old logo, but also becomes more eye-catching, dynamic and modern. After emphasizing "power and handling" performance for many years, BMW chose to change its logo at this time, with the purpose of making the new icon more in line with the characteristics of modern BMW cars.

2020

Sixth Edition: Digital

Compared with the previous version of the LOGO, the new BMW LOGO has a flatter shape and lacks the three-dimensional effect of the previous BMW LOGO. . The "BMW" font has been changed, and it has become a transparent design under the font, which was previously a black background, and the iconic "blue sky and white clouds" of Bavaria have been retained.

It is worth noting that this is the first time that the BMW brand has made its LOGO transparent. The black belt around the BMW LOGO shield has been there since 1917. It can be said that removing this element from the design is a major innovation in historical tradition. It is also the biggest change in the BMW LOGO in its 103 years.

Jens Thiemer, Senior Vice President of BMW Customer Brands, said: “Removing the black ring means that BMW is more open and transparent to young car buyers. It should also better implement digital transformation "However, BMW also stated that the new LOGO will currently be mainly used for online and offline media promotions, and there are currently no plans to put it on new cars, interiors, and dealer store logos. The existing LOGO will be used together with the new LOGO.

This is a virtual era, the black ring has turned blue, this is a new era, an era more suitable for numbers and no propellers in sight.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.